


Catalyst

by esama



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 16:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 46,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2199063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esama/pseuds/esama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hikaru stands in the point that connects far past and near future. It's a very confusing place to be in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on ffnet around 2012  
> Proofread by Darlene and M

Hikaru couldn't breathe and the shadows in his grandfather's shed seemed to dance. There was a whisper, "All powerful gods, I thank you. I will now return to the world," along with  a flash of light and just as Hikaru thought that he was about to pass out, another voice spoke, "What the hell – oi!"  A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him back not just from his  fall, but also from the darkness looming somewhere behind his eyes.

When the world stopped spinning, his head stopped pounding and  he thought what he saw was  beginning to make sense, it… stopped making sense. For a long moment Hikaru just stared at the man in front of him – no,  teenager, a couple years older than Hikaru maybe – who stared back at him.

The older boy blinked, glanced around them, at Hikaru's arm which he was still grasping in an iron grip, then back at the stained Goban, and the ghost who was now watching them with a bewildered look about his handsome face. "Okay," the teenager said, releasing Hikaru. "Really not what I meant, you know!" he suddenly yelled at the ceiling. "But I appreciate the effort!"

Hikaru swallowed, blinking, as the words seemed to restart the world and everything seemed to be in proper motion again. "What the hell!" he yelled, pointing at the teen. "You're, you're… who, what, _you_!"

The teen turned to him, with an awkward, almost sheepish look about his face. A look which Hikaru knew very well – he had seen it in a mirror a few times throughout his life. "Okay, whatever you're thinking, I seriously didn't mean this to happen," the teen said, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. "And it's not my fault."

"Something has occurred?" the spirit from the Goban asked in confusion, his lips hidden behind a folded fan.

"Of course something's happened – look at him!" Hikaru snapped.

The teen sighed, scratching the side of his head while  looking at Hikaru thoughtfully. Like he was the one who had stolen another person's looks – because the teen had _Hikaru's_ bleached bangs, _his_ green eyes, _his whole face_. He was older, taller, bigger maybe, but aside from that he was pretty much a perfect copy of Hikaru. "Man, I was short," the teen muttered, mostly to himself, and yeah, that didn't make any sense _at all_.

Thankfully by that point Akari had run off because Hikaru was being weird and she probably thought he was playing a trick on her, or trying to scare her. Right then Hikaru could only think that she was a coward, but later, after the older _Hikaru_ had finally managed to explain himself somehow, he was pretty grateful. If Akari had been there, had seen them, seen the older Hikaru… yeah, it would've been weird.

"You can't expect me to believe that you're me from the future?" Hikaru said, arms folded and fully willing to take his denial to the grave. "And that you came back by _wishing_."

"Yeah, ghosts are totally more believable than time travel." the older Hikaru said, pointing at the spirit who had been watching them in silent puzzlement since the older Hikaru had started to explain his prayer to the gods which, shockingly, had worked. Just not the way he had expected.

"Actually, they are," Hikaru snorted. "Besides, that was a dickish wish to begin with. What would've happened to me if you had somehow taken over my life? That would've been, like, murder."

"Hm, murdering my young, idiot self. Yeah, I could've lived with that." the older Hikaru said thoughtfully.

"Why, you -!"

At that point the spirit cautiously cleared his throat, looking between them. "I am not… entirely sure if I am following the course of events quite properly here, but…. The younger Hikaru-kun is the one of this time, and the older Hikaru-san is the one of the future, yes?" he asked, at which the older Hikaru nodded, giving the ghost a mixed look of embarrassment and something _weird_ that Hikaru didn't even want to understand. It looked a bit too much like being love struck to him.

"Very well. Why did you come back in time, Hikaru-san?" the spirit asked. "I expect you had a reason for that wish."

"Well, yeah," the older Hikaru said, while Hikaru tried to figure out whether it was insulting to have the other one be Hikaru-san, or not. "I wanted to come back because of you." the older Hikaru said, pointing at the spirit.

"Him? You came back because of a Ghost? Why, to stop him? To exorcise him?" Hikaru asked, looking at the ancient looking spirit nervously. "Yeah, I was about to pass out before you came along – was he going to curse me? Ruin my life, what?" he asked, while the ghost's eyes widened with horror and he opened his mouth.

"No!" the older Hikaru snapped before the spirit could say anything. "No, he wasn't. Well, maybe it was a bit awkward in the beginning, but… no, nothing like that," he said, and turned that _weird_ look at the ghost again. "Sai," he said, his voice wavering a little. "I'm _so_ sorry."

The ghost blinked, lowering the fan a bit. "You are apologising, why?" he asked, while the younger Hikaru growled. The older one knew the spirit's name?

"Because I was such an asshole to you. You wanted to play and… and I didn't really let you, and in the end… you vanished," the older Hikaru said, reaching out and, somehow, grabbing a feeble hold of the spirit's long, flowing sleeve. "I learned to play from you, mostly, and I grew to like the game too much, so in the end I never let you play any and… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I made you go away."

"You…" the spirit hesitated, looking down to the hand holding his sleeve and then back up to the older Hikaru's face. "Is… is that why you wanted to come back, Hikaru-san, to apologise?”

"Yeah, and to not make the same mistake," the older Hikaru said, glancing at the younger Hikaru. "Didn't quite turn out the way I expected though, did it?”

"Okay, what the hell are you talking about?!" the younger Hikaru snapped. "Play, what? And you, what's your name anyway?" he asked, pointing at the spirit who nearly jumped back.

"I-it is Fujiwara no Sai," the spirit said with wide eyes. "A-and I believe Hikaru-san is speaking of Go."

" _Go_?!"

Which took some more explanation. Apparently Sai was – or had been – a Go teacher in the Heian capital or something, and played with the emperor and the nobles of the court or something like that. He had _killed_ himself over it – the hell? – And had then stayed, haunting Gobans, until someone could see him and he could possess them. Like someone named Torajiro who had let Sai play. And now Hikaru, who was the lucky possessed number two. Or three, if you counted the older Hikaru.

"Back in my future, I let Sai play at first and then started to learn the game myself," the older Hikaru continued. "I sucked at first but became better at it; and little under a year ago – in my time – I took the pro exam to become a professional Go player."

"And you passed?" Hikaru asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, with three losses. It was a close one, but I passed," the older Hikaru answered, with a sort of embarrassed pride.

While eyeing his older self, Hikaru wasn't entirely sure if he believed him or not. Professional Go player? And just a year or so in the older one's past – which meant… what, a year and half from now, or so, Hikaru would try the pro-exam? The hell? Hikaru didn't even know how to play Go – nor did he really care to; it was an old man's game, but… a professional player?

"Why'd you want to become a professional?" Hikaru asked, while Sai looked between them curiously.

"Ah, I had a rival. Sort of – it was complicated," the older one said, and scratched his cheek. "I pretty into Go, and when you get good enough… well, all you want to do is play more, play stronger opponents, get better. That's part of it too. Though I've got to admit, I liked the idea of making my own money too. Even if I never really got that far."

"Money?" Hikaru asked, perking up a bit.

"It’s a profession. You get paid for it. Hell, the best ones get pretty rich playing Go. Not like filthy rich, but definitely comfortable," the older Hikaru said and looked at him with an odd, half amused and half despairing expression while Hikaru tried to imagine it. "God, I was _such_ a brat." he muttered, sounding almost amazed.

"Shut up!" the younger Hikaru snapped, and then noticed that Sai was almost fidgeting where he was sitting in formal seiza. "What's with you?"

"You know how to play Go, Hikaru-san. Play it well enough to make it your profession?" the ghost asked excitedly, looking like he was just an inch away from bouncing. "Play me?" he begged. "It has been so long!"

"Hey, don’t we have bigger problems here than playing Go – oi!" Hikaru snapped, when his older self just nodded with that weird look again, and went to fetch the stone bowls from the trunk Hikaru had found the Goban in. "Oh, come on!" younger Hikaru moaned. "You can't be serious! And besides, isn't it creepy to play on that?" he asked, pointing at the stained Goban. "That's like, Torajiro's blood, right?"

"The stains are a bit more than that. If you don't mind, Sai?" the older Hikaru asked, while setting both the bowls beside himself.

"No," the spirit said with a sad smile, shaking his head. "Torajiro would have liked it – Gobans are meant to be played upon."

"Geez, I can't believe this," Hikaru groaned, as his older self and the ancient spirit seriously started to play Go, his older self placing all the stones and instructing the spirit to point where he wanted his placed with the fan. "One is from a thousand years ago , another is from two years into the future, and they stop in the middle of an important discussion to play _Go_. What the effing hell?" Hikaru muttered. "You people have to get your priorities straight!"

"Shut up, pipsqueak," his older self said, pausing for a while as Sai had a _moment_ by himself behind his unfolded fan looking pretty much like he was – no, yeah, he was crying. It only lasted for a few seconds, but seriously, he was actually crying over _Go_.

"Oh, for god's sake…." Grumbling to himself, Hikaru sat back and watched with incomprehension as the game started and the spirit and the time traveller scattered the black and white stones all over the board, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. After getting over himself, Sai was nearly bouncing where he sat, eyeing the board excitedly and happily pointing out his moves, while the older Hikaru placed the stones down with accustomed patience – apparently, it wasn't the first time he had done this.

"I don't get it," Hikaru muttered to himself – the other two were now too into their game to even hear him. What was so great about Go? Even his grandpa was a maniac about it. What was the point – what was so interesting about it that his own older self had actually gotten into it? Wasn't it an old man's game – and a lame game at that? At least Shogi had several pieces, most of them with cool names. Go just had little pebbles which looked more or less like candy.

Well… there had to be something, he grudgingly admitted, as his older self stopped to frown at the game, looking at it like it held all the secrets in the universe. That was an expression Hikaru knew had never graced his own features – he had never been that serious about anything in his life! And… whoa, it sort of looked kind of…. Tilting his head a bit to see it better, younger Hikaru had to blink a couple of times to make sure he was actually seeing it right. It almost seemed like his older self’s eyes were glowing with some… weird internal energy.

 _'Cool,'_ Hikaru thought, a bit dazedly. _'He looks cool. What the hell?'_

"Stop thinking out loud, I'm concentrating here." the older Hikaru answered and placed his stone with a small smile, making Sai blink.

"You – you can hear when I'm thinking?!" Hikaru asked, shocked.

"Yeah, when you think like that. Wait," the older Hikaru paused, looking at him. "Yeah, I actually could hear you. That's how Sai and I used to – Sai, you heard him too, right?" he paused and then, _'Can either of you hear me?'_ he asked, without moving his lips.

"Okay, that's creepy." younger Hikaru murmured, leaning back a bit.

"Hm, yes, I can hear you both. It was like that with Torajiro as well," the spirit said, looking at the two Hikaru's and then turning to the younger one. "I think perhaps your coming to the past, Hikaru-san, has altered the bond somewhat and included you into it. But I wonder…."

"What?" younger Hikaru snapped, seriously freaked out by now.

"Which one of you I am bound to follow? I could never leave Torajiro." Sai murmured, tapping his lips thoughtfully with his folded fan.

"Yeah, back then you couldn't leave me either. But if there's two of us…" the older Hikaru leaned back, frowning.

"So, now you care about this stuff again," younger Hikaru snapped. "And shouldn't you have bigger worries anyway, than Go? I mean, you're in the freaking past, for crying out loud! Sai's pretty much okay, he probably doesn't need to eat and a place to sleep and stuff, but what about you? It's not like we can go home and be all, hey Mom, look, this is me from two years into the future, is it okay if he stays here for a bit? Besides, you look just like me! Do you know how weird that is? You will probably get, like, abducted by the government and experimented on so that they can figure out how time travel works or something!"

"Whoa," the older Hikaru said, looking impressed. "I’d forgotten how crazy my imagination was." He shook his head and looked up at Sai. "Oh well. We'll figure it out. Let's just finish our game."

"Yes." the spirit agreed happily.

Hikaru wanted to tear his hair out. "Oh, come on! Am I the only one who cares about the real world here?!"

He was of course ignored, until some half an hour or so later, by which time he was lying on his back on the floor, hands crossed behind his neck, half asleep. When he heard the older Hikaru's sigh and, "There's nothing more I can do." spoken in oddly formal tone.

"Thank you for the game," Sai answered equally formally.

"Oh, does this mean you're done?" Hikaru asked, but didn't get up from the floor, just in case they weren't.

And they weren't. After finishing the game, they had to _discuss_ it. Which included things like, "This hand here, I thought I could connect it with the one here," and "Losing this cluster really set me back," and "But if you had gone here instead…" like it all meant something. And once they were done discussing the game, they had to discuss the playing style.

"Yeah, I can see it now. How old-fashioned your style is," the older Hikaru said. "Go's changed somewhat since Torajiro's era – there's new rules like the komi rule – which lets the white start with five and half moku, to even out the advantage black gets by starting first – so komoku openings are a bit rare, people tend to start with the stars these days."

"Oh, really? Komi, hmm…?" Sai asked, and they had to talk about komi for a while, whatever that was. "Hm, yes, that does make sense. I also can see that I was primarily your teacher, Hikaru-san, you have some of my style in your Go – but some of the hands you played are completely novel to me. What made you think –"

And so forth. By the time they were done talking about nonsensical stuff like joseki and komi and stars and other stuff, Hikaru was feeling seriously ticked off and wondering if they'd even notice if he just up and left. "It's starting to get late, guys," he pointed out in annoyance, still lying on the floor, tapping it with his foot in irritation. "And I think I should've been home like an hour ago."

"Oh. Oops," the older Hikaru murmured, glancing down at him. "I forgot about you."

"Thanks," the younger Hikaru growled, sitting up with a grunt. "So, now that you're done _playing_ , what are we going to do?"

The older Hikaru and Sai exchanged a thoughtful look. "Well," the older Hikaru said. "I can't exactly go anywhere right now – not like I am," he said, frowning a bit. "I think I'll stay here for the night – grandpa checks this place pretty rarely so I can sleep here and slip out before he wakes up. Tomorrow…" he looked at younger Hikaru, eyeing his face, his hair, and touching his own bleached bangs. "Hm. That is a bit of a problem," he muttered.

"You got to disguise yourself somehow," Hikaru decided. "You look way too much like me and that's just weird. Seriously, the government might kidnap you."

"Because I have the same sense of style as you?" older Hikaru asked with a snort, but there was a thoughtful look about his face. "Well. I probably shouldn't draw attention, this is a bit too weird as it is," he said and shook his head. "I'll figure it out in the morning."

"What about me?" Sai asked carefully, making them turn to him. "We still do not know which one of you I am bound to."

"I guess there is only one way to find out," the older Hikaru said, shrugging, and looked at younger Hikaru. "You take off. If Sai has to follow you, then he goes with you. If not, then he stays."

"But what if he can follow whichever he chooses? Or, like, switch if he wants to?" the younger Hikaru asked suspiciously.

"We'll test it. You take off and if Sai stays here we'll wait for a while and then see if he can come to you," the older one said, shrugging again. "Easy."

"Right, fine," the younger Hikaru said and then stood up. For all he was ready to leave the madhouse and its ghosts and time travellers, it felt a bit weird too. Because… well, he had no idea. But somehow he felt _excluded_ all of sudden. Sai had come out of the Goban when he had seen the stains, but… it seemed like both Sai and the older Hikaru were taking the fact that Sai ought to stay with the older Hikaru for granted.

And of course it wasn't like Hikaru wanted a weird Go maniac ghost around, but… but….

"Fine, I'm going. But," Hikaru stopped frowning. "What about later? I mean I have to go to school tomorrow, and you will be off disguising yourself. Will we, like… see each other again?"

"Of course," the older Hikaru snorted and grinned. "You still need to learn how to play Go."

"What? No, I don't!" Hikaru snapped indignantly.

"Yeah, you do. Trust me. You don't know it yet, but you _want_ to learn Go," the older one said seriously, his smile fading. "Because me? I don't know what I'd do if I didn't know it. I don't think I would like my life much without it."

Hikaru frowned a bit at that, not sure what to think about it, what to say. It was one thing to know that his older self from the future played Go, but to hear that it made his life better? That it would make his own life better? All the time since starting at elementary school Hikaru had heard people talking about _what they wanted to do when they grew up_ … but this? It was one thing to wonder about what you wanted to do with your life, another to hear that someone else knew exactly what.

It was… odd. Weird. And terrifyingly awe striking.

"Okay, say we meet tomorrow, after you get off school – in, hmm… that café three blocks from your school, the one with the orange lamps," the older Hikaru said thoughtfully. "I'll try and not look so much like you then, alright?"

"Okay, fine," the younger Hikaru agreed. "But you're buying. Or… do you even have money with you?"

"Some. I’ve got my wallet," the older Hikaru shrugged, frowning a bit and then shaking head. "Well, I'll figure that out later, too," he decided and waved a hand at his younger self. "You go home. Mom must be freaking out by now."

"Yeah, yikes," Hikaru agreed, and then glanced at Sai, who was thoughtfully watching them. "So… you stay here, if you can, and then come to me later, if you can, to check the bond, right?"

"Yes," the spirit agreed.

"Okay. I'm going now," Hikaru said and with a wave of his hand he did just that. "Night, old me!"

"Good night, mini-me." the older Hikaru called after him.

 

* * *

 

Hikaru and Sai waited silently for a while as the door of the shed was opened and closed and soon after they stopped hearing the younger Hikaru's footsteps. "So, that answers that," Hikaru murmured, and turned somewhat awkward eyes at Sai, who was still eyeing him thoughtfully. He… still didn't know how to handle this.  This wasn't what he had intended, but it wasn't bad. And yet… god, he felt guilty, and having Sai, Sai who didn't know him, looking at him like that….

"You're really quite a good Go player. The other me must have had a lot of fun, teaching you," the spirit said quietly.

"Yeah, it was fun, sometimes. But towards the end… I was seriously bad to him. I thought we'd  always be together, like you and Torajiro had been until his death, so I didn't really even think about it. I thought that eventually, once I was good enough, I would be able to let you play every once in a while through me without it seeming so weird, but…" Hikaru shrugged awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't think, I didn't know. I didn't mean to make you unhappy."

"It is quite alright," Sai smiled gently. "You are here, now, so the gods must think that you can repent for whatever mistakes you might have made. It is strange, yes, but so could my existence in this era be called strange," he mused, looking down at Shusaku's Goban. "But it is a bit problematic as well, is it not, your existence here?"

"Yes, it is," Hikaru sighed and ran a hand over his face. He hadn't let it show with his younger self here – hell, the brat had more than enough to worry about, with both him and Sai here, messing up his previously normal life. His problems were huge, but he'd handle them himself, without drawing the brat into them.

"It's probably not as bad as the brat makes it sound – I doubt the government will even notice. But he's right about me looking a lot like him and that being weird, and the attention it could draw… we can do without," Hikaru murmured, leaning back a bit and thinking about it. On top of that, he had to live somehow too. Frowning, Hikaru dug out his wallet from his back pocket quickly dug through it, counting the bills. He had some money – thank god he had withdrawn some in his insane visit to Hiroshima. But it would run out quickly, especially since he had to figure out a disguise and that would probably take a visit to a hair salon and more.

He could stay in the shed for one night, but probably for no more. His grandfather wasn't that carefree – and Hikaru knew the old man checked the premises every morning, and for a good reason. Some of the stuff in the shed was valuable, after all. So, after that night, he'd have no place to stay and what money he had wouldn't be good enough to get him another place. On top of that….

Hikaru pulled out his bank card, his ID card, and the others, and sighed. Shindo Hikaru, they all said, and that wouldn't be good, not with another Shindo Hikaru running around – one whose age actually matched that on the cards. Plus, most of the cards he had gotten in the future, when he had become a pro, and the bank card was pretty much useless with the corresponding account not even existing in this time. So, he didn't have any identification that would work, and the ones he had would just get him into trouble if he showed them anywhere. Great.

"Hikaru-san?" Sai asked worriedly.

"I'm in a bit of trouble, but it's okay, I'll figure this out," Hikaru sighed, shoving the cards back into the wallet and looking through the money. He had enough for his disguise. After that, he needed to come up with a strategy that would get him a steady income. And somehow he needed to get new identity. And a name. Yeah. He'd figure it out somehow, one at a time. First things first, though.

"Anyway," Hikaru said and pushed his wallet back into his back pocket. "We know now that you are at least partially bound to me and can stick around when the mini-me takes off. Wanna try going to him now?" he asked. "We ought to figure that out before anything else – because if you can switch between us, it would probably make our lives easier."

"Easier? How?" Sai asked, confused.

"If you can, then me and mini-me can communicate through you," Hikaru answered. "Until I figure this mess out, it's probably easier if we're not seen together that much. At least it'll be easier on our mental balance if nothing else," he snorted.

"Alright," Sai answered. "I will try to go to Hikaru-kun. Shall I try and come back to you after that, Hikaru-san?"

"Yeah," Hikaru nodded. If it worked he wanted to know – and if Sai didn't come back, Hikaru would know it was because he couldn't, not that he wouldn't. Hikaru had gone through that once already and this time he wanted to be sure of these things.

"Alright. Hopefully this will work and if it does, I will see you soon." Sai said, and then closed his eyes, concentrating.

Nothing happened at first and Hikaru thought that it didn't work. But then Sai's form seemed to blur, until it faded out, like turning into fine mist, and vanished all together, leaving Hikaru alone and shuddering a bit at the memories. When Sai had just vanished, as if between one blink and the next… it still freaked him out a bit. Especially after two days of heart broken searching, and one disappointment after another.

"He's not gone completely, relax," Hikaru muttered at himself, while turning to clear the bloodstained Goban, putting all the stones into their respective bowls. He took a deep breath and released it slowly, forcing his body to loosen up a bit. This whole ordeal was messed up and weird and god, he was really in such trouble, but… Sai wasn't gone; he was just with the little Hikaru. There was nothing to worry about.

"You are seriously messed up, you know," he said, glancing at the ceiling. "I mean, how do you expect me to deal with this? Seriously."

The ceiling and whatever, whoever, there was above him didn't answer; of course not. But a little later, there was an odd sort of stirring in the air beside Hikaru, and then Sai was there again, blinking a bit and turning more and more visible until he was there completely – or as completely as a ghost could be.

"So you can do it. How was it?" Hikaru asked.

"A little strange, but I think I can learn to do it faster with some practice. I'm afraid I made Hikaru-kun trip when I appeared next to him, however, and he fell into a puddle," Sai admitted embarrassedly. "He yelled at me. Rather loudly."

Hikaru grinned. "Don't let it get to you. He's really  a bit of a softy, he just has a loud mouth," he said.

"Does that mean that you, too, have a loud mouth, Hikaru-san?"

"Yeah, pretty much, but I've learned to control it better," Hikaru grinned and then gently put the Goban and the stone bowls back where they came from, in the trunk where they had stayed for years. They'd be safer there, hidden and secure. "I think I'll try to turn in. I've got a lot to do tomorrow, and I don't want to be half asleep when I do it." Hikaru decided, glancing around in the shed. There was nothing there that he could use as a good spot to sleep in, but he had dozed off in worse places. And he hadn't had much sleep in the last couple of days anyway, so he doubted falling asleep would be a problem. Waking up, on other hand…

"Hikaru-san," Sai spoke thoughtfully. "Why do you think the gods sent you back like this?"

"Hell if I know," Hikaru said, while turning to dig around in the boxes and trunks in hopes of finding something soft to use as a pillow at least. "But… I asked them to do it so that I could let you play. Play the way I didn't let you, I mean – to let you play all the games. Of course, I can't, really, not like I am and with the brat being the real Shindo Hikaru here, but…" he considered it for a moment. "I think I am here to let you play."

Sai blinked and then looked down. "And…" he started, but couldn't finish the sentence.

"And that's what I am going to do. Just… you have to wait a bit until I figure out how I will manage," Hikaru said, pulling out a bag full of what looked like old yarn. He tried its softness and shrugged. A bit weird, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth; it would work well enough as a pillow.

Setting the bag down, Hikaru stretched himself out on the wooden floor, sighing. "I need to come up with a new name," he murmured with a frown, shifting a bit to get into something like a comfortable position. His back would hurt like nobody's business in the morning, but he'd deal with that then, not now. "You got any ideas?" he asked, because he certainly didn't know where to begin, coming up with an alternate identity.

"For a name?" Sai asked, tapping his lips thoughtfully with his fan. "I've known many people and know many names. Perhaps you have some sort of preference?"

Hikaru considered it. "Well… I'd like my given name to be something like my actual one – if it's something like Gorou or Hayato, I would never actually remember it and wouldn't realise when people were talking to me. And…" he thought about it. He wanted to let Sai play through him, and would do what he could to make it possible. They'd start with NetGo as soon as possible, and of course they'd teach the brat to play Go too. And if things went the way they did – and they probably would – people would get really curious about _sai_ the NetGo player.

And even if it had been sort of exciting in a terrifying way, he kind of wanted to spare his younger self that trouble this time around. "Something with _sai_ in it," Hikaru said, making the actual Sai jump a bit.

"What? Why?" the ghost asked, looking startled.

"Insurance, for the future," Hikaru answered with a shrug. "And a bit of a homage to you I suppose – if you are going to play through me, it sort of works, doesn't it?" It would be a bit weird, after all that time of having Toya, Ogata and Toya Meijin and all accusing him of being Sai, to actually, sort of _be_ Sai, but… in a way it would be sort of cool too. Weird, but cool. Not to mention ironic, after all his objections about it.

"Not exactly Sai, though," Hikaru added quickly. "Because that would be weird."

"Yes, yes quite," Sai agreed with a chuckle and then thought about it. "I will ponder on this. Perhaps by morning, I will have come up with some suggestions."

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Hikaru agreed and then yawned. "Right now, though, I am going to sleep. Good night, Sai. Wake me up around sunrise, okay? And don't let me go back to sleep."

"I will. Good night, Hikaru-san. Sleep well."

Hikaru didn't sleep well, couldn't really on such a hard surface, but he slept without dreams at least, which he was rather relieved about in the morning, after waking up stiff and aching and really needing to use a bathroom. As Sai worriedly watched, Hikaru rose with a groan, feeling a bit like his spine was creaking.

"Are you alright, Hikaru-san?"

"Just dandy," Hikaru answered, stuffing the bag of old yarn back into the trunk it had come from. "Come on; we need to get going and I _really_ need to find a café with a bathroom."

Thankfully, there was one not all that far from his grandparent's house, which had just opened – and thankfully, the staff were all too busy preparing for the day so they didn't mind Hikaru heading straight for the bathroom. After relieving himself and quickly washing his hands and face and trying to get his hair into order, Hikaru headed out and sacrificed some of his finite money for a cup of black coffee – which he hated but really needed right then – and a pastry.

"What shall we do next, Hikaru-san?" Sai asked, as he quickly ate to settle his stomach.

Hikaru sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to this, but it had to be done. _'I need to find a hair salon, and get a makeover,'_ he answered. Not that he was a stranger to places like that – he had to get his hair re-dyed once every couple months or his bangs started to look pretty weird, but still. This would take something more than just dyeing his hair, and he rather doubted that cutting his hair short would help him look different from himself.

Sighing again, Hikaru finished the bitter brew, and feeling a bit more awake he headed off, to waste time until it was a more decent hour and he might more reasonably expect a salon to be open. _'Did you come up with anything good, by the way?'_ he asked, after finding a bench to sit on, and a reasonably interesting street to dully watch.

"A name, you mean?" Sai asked, sitting down beside him, unseen but present. "Well, I did consider many options but I think I have one which would fit your qualifications," he said, and looked at Hikaru. "Saito Haruki."

"Hoo, not bad," Hikaru said out loud. It had _sai_ in it and the given name was just close enough to his own to work. _'Saito Haruki. Yeah, that'll work. Not bad, Sai.'_ Of course the name wouldn't mean anything unless he somehow got corresponding ID papers for it, but… it was a start.

The spirit smiled. "Should I start calling you Haruki-san now?" he asked.

 _'No. I still want to be Hikaru to you, even if I can't be him to anyone else,'_ Hikaru said determinedly. He didn't think he could bear it if Sai called him by some other name, even if it was a necessity, it wouldn't be right. The brat could call him whatever he wanted, and Hikaru wouldn't care, but… not Sai. He _needed_ to be Hikaru to Sai.

"Alright, Hikaru-san," the spirit said softly, and for a moment they watched the traffic silently.

 _'Do you wanna play blind Go?'_ Hikaru suggested and almost grinned as Sai's eyes widened and he nearly jumped with excitement. _'I'll take that as a yes. I'll start. 4-15.'_

"4-2," Sai answered happily, and the game begun. For the next half an hour, they played in their head, each visualising their invisible Goban and placing their moves verbally and mentally, until the game reached its eventual, inevitable conclusion. Even if Hikaru had the benefit of future knowledge and knowing Sai's Go like the back of his own hand, and even if Sai had yet to learn more modern tactics the way he had in the future, Hikaru still had a lot to learn before he could match the spirit.

But it killed time until it was about right for Hikaru to start searching for a hair salon. He first he considered the one he used to frequent but decided against it, seeing as it was the place his younger self went to, and instead continued searching, eventually taking the metro downtown until he found one that looked promising.

"Magic transformations, seriously?" Hikaru asked in response to the slogan on the salon's sign, before shaking his head. It looked like a neat enough place and just flashy enough to be good and popular and stuff. And transformation was pretty much what he needed. Except… oh, god, he really wasn't looking forward to it – he didn't want to lose his bangs or get a different style, any of it. But… yeah. Even if no one would realise he and the brat were the same person, it would still be pretty weird if they shared that many features. And it would be easier for him, who no one knew, to change his appearance, than the brat who’d had the bleached-bangs-look for a couple of years already….

"Hikaru-san?" Sai asked curiously.

Hikaru sighed. _'I've had this hair for almost five years. I_ like _this hair,'_ he answered, touching his bangs. And the hair was _him_ the same way his clothes were him and yeah, he would probably have to do something about that too. Yellow shirts with the number 5 printed on them were a very Shindo Hikaru thing, too. _'I just wish this wasn't so necessary.'_

But if he hesitated any longer, he'd end up not doing it at all, and that wouldn't work. With a deep breath, Hikaru braced himself and stepped inside. The salon was, unsurprisingly enough, entirely staffed by women all of whom seemed to turn to look at him the moment he stepped in. "You guys wouldn't happen to have any free time to give me a complete makeover?" Hikaru asked, feeling like he was about to throw himself at a pack of hungry lions. "I need to become someone else."

"Well, honey, you came into the right place." the nearest woman said, and Hikaru figured he was pretty much doomed.

 

* * *

 

Tapping his lips thoughtfully with his fan, Sai watched as Hikaru-san was ushered into a chair by a pair of young women. It would take some adjusting to get used to this time, he mused, while watching the display of what seemed to be normal behaviour for this era. The women were outspoken and cheery – and dressed… quite oddly. Sai had hundreds of years ago come to terms with the fact that times changed, and people changed and the culture changed with those times and people, but….

Did all women wear such clothing, these days?

 _'Hikaru-san, are they not… indecently dressed?'_ he asked uncertainly, while lingering a short distance, not wanting to be walked through by the bustling women.

Hikaru-san glanced at him and let out a mental laugh. _'I forgot about this,'_ he thought back, amusement making his words warm. _'Things are a bit different from your time, and from Torajiro's time. No, they aren't indecently dressed – though these girls are a bit flashily dressed, they're not that far from the norm these days. I'm sorry, but you just have to get used to it. Women wear tight pants and short skirts and on warm days, they barely cover their shoulders. And it's okay.'_

"I see," Sai answered aloud. Yes, it would definitely take some getting adjusted to. As would the other changes. Things hadn't been that different from what he had known, back when he had been with Torajiro, but this time was like another world. For the sake of Hikaru-san he had kept himself forcibly from asking about the horseless carriages, the poles that emitted light and others that somehow produced a musical sound. He wanted to know, though, and about the streets – they were so smooth! And why were there markings painted on them? And how did people make such windows, the glass so clear and smooth and…

And what was that, anyway? Sai frowned a bit while eyeing a box hanging in the upper corner on the far side of the room. It was faintly glowing and there were _people_ inside it, speaking. He wanted to ask what sort of magic people had these days but….

"So, do you have preferences about what we'll do?" one of the women asked, while gently pulling a fine toothed black comb through Hikaru-san's two toned hair.

"You people know these things better than I do. I just want to look like somebody else," Hikaru-san answered and tilted his head a bit. There was a large mirror in front of him, and he was looking at his own reflection. While Sai wondered how the mirror had been made, Hikaru-san spoke again. "Just don't make me look like an idiot, and I'm game."

"Well, that's a bit vague," the woman said, while another came closer, pulling an odd sort of cart with her – it seemed to be full of tools of some sort. "Do you want to look like a _completely_ different person, or do you just want to –"

"Like a completely different person," Hikaru-san answered, frowning at his reflection. "I mean… I want my face to look different. Like, if you put me next to another me, you couldn't see that we were same person."

"Okay," the woman with the comb laughed. "That's very interesting, but I think I'm getting the picture. Hmm… that will take a bit of work, though. We can dye your hair, cut it, re-arrange it, but… hmm… Tell me, how do you feel about some… additions?"

"Like what?" Hikaru-san asked suspiciously.

"Hair extensions, for example. And maybe coloured contacts," the woman said, leaning forward and turning Hikaru-san's face this way and that, looking at it from the mirror. "Say we dye your hair, add hair extensions, coloured contacts – have Mika dye your eyebrows – and I think we'd get somewhere. How would you feel about that?"

Hikaru-san frowned, looking a bit uncomfortable, while Sai blinked with shock. Dyed _hair_? And eyebrows? Hair extensions? Coloured _what_? He had no idea what he was watching anymore. People could do things like that these days?

"Would that make me look like somebody else?" Hikaru-san finally asked, sounding a bit uneasy.

"If you gave me free hands with the whole thing, your own mother wouldn't recognise you by the time we're done." the woman promised.

"And how expensive that would be?" Hikaru-san asked, not suspicious. He was told the price, which for Sai sounded rather high, but then, he wasn't quite sure of the worth of money these days. "Well… if you really can do it then…" Hikaru-san trailed away, looking at his reflection. "Yeah, okay. Go nuts."

"Oh, goody. It's been a while since I've gotten to add hair extensions to a guy, this is going to be fun!" the woman said, clapping her hands together. "First though, let's think about the dye. Mika, Aiko, come here, I wanna hear what you think!"

While Sai finally gave up trying to follow the proceedings and found himself a quiet spot to sit in, the women started to bustle around Hikaru-san with every apparent intention of completely transforming him. Sai still wasn't quite sure about the whole ordeal, how necessary it really was, or how possible, but it wasn't really his place to say anything one way or the other. It was Hikaru-san's life, after all, and of course Hikaru-san was in a complicated place, being out of time. Not quite as far out as Sai, but… misplaced nonetheless.

Opening and closing his fan idly, Sai looked around himself thoughtfully, wondering about the items and things he could see – cabinets full of colourful, gleaming bottles, the lamps hanging from the ceiling. Of course, there had been lamps in Shusaku's time, here and there, but not like these ones – so bright and steady. They probably didn't use gas or oil.

 _'Or magic. As magical as all of this seems I… doubt it actually is. The promise of western technology we saw in those times has been fully realised, I suppose.'_ Sai mused to himself, and wondered again about the horseless carriages. How _did_ they work? And honestly, what was the box – how did it work, if not by magic? By the gods, he hoped Hikaru-san could explain it all.

Right now Hikaru-san was busy. The women seemed to have settled upon a colour, and Hikaru-san's hair was being lathed by some sort of ointment. Sai watched the process for a while, wondering. It seemed that even in these days beautifying was a lengthy process, , as it took some time before Hikaru-san was ushered away and his hair was washed – leaving it completely glossy black.

"Oh, this is so weird. I've had the bangs for _years_." Hikaru-san moaned, while the women used some sort of… air-blowing machine to dry his now completely black hair.

"Well, you don't have to worry about re-dyeing it," one of the women said while running her fingers through Hikaru-san's hair. "I can see why you've had parted bangs for this long, but I think we'll have to shorten them a bit, and cover your forehead, and go down the sides a bit lighter – bring out that jawline and cheekbones. Aiko, how are you doing with those extensions?" she called.

"Ready!" another woman said, and came back, carrying long wads of black… hair. Yes, it was definitely hair. Sai blinked, tapping his lips with the fan again. People could re-attach cut off hair these days?

Apparently they could. It was an even lengthier process, as they, bit by bit, added longer locks into Hikaru-san's shorter hair, but they were definitely doing it. With growing fascination Sai watched the progress as they started from the neck and worked up one lock at a time. Hikaru-san himself wasn't watching – his eyes were closed and there was an uneasy look about his face, but he seemed determined to endure.

 _'Hikaru-san,'_ Sai called mentally at the man. _'You seem uncomfortable. Is this really necessary?'_

 _'Well, this might be going a bit too far, but yeah. It just that… it's probably going to look horribly girly,'_ Hikaru-san answered, without opening his eyes.

 _'Long hair is not necessarily feminine. I have long hair!'_ Sai thought indignantly.

 _'Yeah, that's precisely my point,'_ Hikaru-san answered, and grinned faintly. _'Okay, maybe it won't be that bad and I suppose I've had short hair forever so it might actually be sort of cool to change it some but… but it'll probably take me forever to get used to.'_

When the hair extensions had been added in, the women went about cutting them, confusing Sai a bit further – why cut them when they had specifically added them to make Hikaru-san's hair longer? But in the end they only cut little bits here and there and not all of it, leaving the hair in… what could only be described as artistic mess. None of it was exactly the same length; it was long in the back, almost reaching Hikaru-san's shoulder blades, but at the front and sides it was shorter, framing Hikaru-san's face.

"If you don't want to see it until we're completely done, don't open your eyes yet," the women said, amused – Hikaru-san apparently still had yet to look. "Let us dye your brows first, and see about the contacts."

"Fine, fine," Hikaru-san answered, and was taken to another chair where he leaned his head back while one of the women worked on his eyebrows. It started with dyeing and ended with a lot of, "Ouch, ow, what the hell?!"

"They need to be trimmed, you big baby." the woman working on him laughed, while plucking out hairs here and there from the brows. Sai winced in sympathy while watching, and wondered if this honestly was worth the trouble.

And then he found out what the contacts were. "Okay, so, how do I put these on?" Hikaru-san asked, after he had been presented with a small, oddly shaped white box, which had two lids and some sort of liquid inside.

"Wash your hands first. Good, now watch me; I'll show you," one of the women said, and promptly put her fingers into her own eye and _pulled the colour_ _from them_. Sai had to actually sit down after watching her just physically remove her own eye colour, this last turn of events being a bit too much.

"Now, just check to see that the lens is right way around, and hold it on your finger like this. Now, what you want to do is hold your eyelids open wide, like this and… just put it in," the woman said, and then popped the colour back into her eye. "And then just blink a few times, it'll go into the right place by itself – and if it doesn't just tug at it a bit with your finger tip and it should."

 _'This era is strange.'_ Sai thought faintly, while Hikaru-san added colour into his own eyes, changing the colour from a dark, murky green into a striking light green.

Then it seemed that Hikaru-san was finished. "Whoa," he said, as he finally turned to look at himself in the mirror – and despite the strangeness of the transformation, Sai had to agree. He did not look much like the young man who had entered the establishment, not with this new long, sleek black hair flowing down to his shoulders and his back, with eyebrows that were much darker and thinner than before, and eyes which were piercingly pale.

"It's not as long as I thought," Hikaru-san murmured, running his fingers through the black hair covering his forehead before turning a bit to see the way it went by his neck. _'Or as girly. Will take me a while to get used to not having any blonde in it, but at least it doesn't look anything like Toya's hair, thank god. Or like yours, Sai.'_ he added silently, while Sai wondered who Toya was.

"You clean up good, boy." one of the women said, patting Hikaru-san shoulder.

"Thanks, but… I'm not sure about the eye colour. Isn't it a bit too much?" Hikaru-san asked. "I mean, it's obvious I have contacts on."

"Is it?" one of the women asked, folding her arms and smiling. "Look again."

Hikaru-san did, now with more consideration, and Sai did the same, coming to stand behind him to see the reflection more clearly. No, it did not look unnatural. With the change in hair style and eye brows which were not only thinner but also _sharper_ somehow, the eye colour fit him very well. He looked… ferocious, somehow. And maybe a few years older, though Sai didn't know if that was good or bad in this case.

"Okay. You've turned me into a believer," Hikaru-san said with a laugh and tilted his face a bit. "I'm going to need some better clothing; I don't think t-shirts will cut it, anymore. Seriously, _damn_. That doesn't look like me at all!"

The women preened proudly at that while Hikaru-san just shook his head, looking amazed. He still had questions, about how long the hair would last, and about the coloured lenses which apparently were the cause of the colour change in his eyes, but it seemed that the transformation was finished. At least as far as the beauty salon went.

"You wouldn't happen to know where I could buy cheap clothing?" he asked after paying for the work done on his looks. "I need to get a jacket at least."

"I know a pretty decent second hand store. Let me give you the address." one of the women said, and soon after Hikaru-san and Sai were making their exit, with many well wishes and good byes and pleas to come back again from the women of the salon.

"This will seriously take a while to grow adjusted to," Hikaru-san murmured out loud, unknowingly echoing many of Sai's most recent thoughts, while watching his reflection in the store windows as he walked past them. "Seriously, I didn't think I _could_ look like this."

"You are not an unhandsome young man." Sai assured him amusedly.

 _'Thanks, Sai. Coming from_ you _that means a lot,'_ Hikaru-san laughed, shaking his head. _'Okay, next I need to get a coat or jacket at least, and maybe new shoes,'_ he thought, glancing down at his shorts and foot wear – which Sai couldn't say much about, not knowing what was or wasn't formal or informal wear in these times. But the shirt did look somewhat flimsy and unfitting with Hikaru-san's new appearance, and the shoes were… rather worn. _'Seriously need a jacket anyway; it's cold here…. Let's check that store out and then we need to head back or we’ll miss the meeting with the brat.'_

"I could always go to Hikaru-kun and tell him you might be late." Sai suggested.

 _'Nah. If we don't dawdle too much, we have enough time,'_ Hikaru-san answered with a wave of his hand. _'Besides, if you go to him now, he'll just end up making a scene in his classroom.'_

"I see," Sai answered. He was a bit disappointed – it would have been interesting to see what modern schools were like. "What will we do after we meet with Hikaru-kun, though?" he asked. "Shall we start on his Go tutelage?"

 _'Hmm… yes, I suppose we will,'_ Hikaru-san answered and smiled, pushing his hands into the pockets of his trousers. _'Should probably see about getting him a Goban – it took me almost a year after meeting you to get one, bit of a waste of time that. Before that, though, I think we ought to introduce him to Go….'_

"Introduce him? But does he not already know about Go?" Sai asked, confused. "He might not know how to play it, or so I understood, but he knows what Go is."

 _'Yeah, he knows about Go. He doesn't know about the_ world _of Go, though,'_ Hikaru-san said, and grinned, shrugging. _'We're not the right people to do that introduction, mind you. I'm sorry to say this, Sai, but if it had been just you and me back when this all happened to me, I'm not sure if I would've been that into Go. No, there's more than that to it, and our little Hikaru-kun needs a glimpse of it.'_

"I… am not entirely sure of what you mean." Sai admitted with a frown and a slight, puzzled tilt of his head.

 _'You'll see.'_ Hikaru-san said, smiling.

 

* * *

 

"I told you, it was an accident," Hikaru said, while Akari pouted at him with all the might of a girl – which was kind of a lot. "I didn't mean to scare you – and I didn't know you got so scared so easily anyway. You probably just overreacted because of the storm and –"

"I did not, you were being weird!" she snapped, folding her arms and huffing. "With the Goban and acting like there was someone there and I could hear you talking to yourself, it was weird."

Hikaru shrugged, looking away with a sigh. Yeah, it had been, and he still wasn't sure exactly what had happened. There had been a ghost and his own older self and Go? Ugh. "Well, it was yesterday so we can just forget it, right?" he asked, not really wanting to think about it. It had been weird enough to have it happen, and to remember it was just making his head hurt. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"Yeah, sure," Akari said disbelievingly and then sighed. "So, are you heading home now?"

"No, I promised to meet with someone after school," Hikaru said, sighing. Meeting with his older self and the ghost. When and why had his life become so weird? Well, at least Sai wasn't attached only to him, that would've been worse. Although… it sort of pissed him off that Sai preferred the older him, though he wasn't sure why. Just did. "Anyway, I should get going," he added, glancing at her. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Yeah, alright," Akari said, shaking her head, still looking annoyed with him. "Bye Hikaru."

"Yeah, bye." he answered, waving a hand and then turning up the road which led to the café. Well, there was one upside to this. The older him was buying, so he probably could order whatever he wanted. _'Hmm, maybe I'll get something really expensive, would serve him right,'_ he thought, but without much heat, and sighed again. _'I wonder what they've been doing today. Did grandpa see them? Hmm… do other people see Sai? Probably not, I think the older me would've said if they did….'_

What he was most worried about though was the threat to teach him. Go, though. He hadn't been able to get that from his head, and what his older self had said about not knowing if he'd like his life as much without Go in it. How weird was that? And the older Hikaru wanted to teach Go to him? Him and Sai together probably….

Groaning softly, Hikaru tried not to imagine and ended up doing just that. Him, being ganged up on by his own older self and the ghost, both of who were speaking in gibberish and weird Go terms and him never understanding a word and… ugh, just ugh. Why him?

Eventually he made it to the café and entered it, glancing around to see if he could see his older self. He didn't – there was no one there with bleached hair, partially or otherwise. He did see Sai, though, standing by a window and staring outside, and as he approached he could hear Sai's voice. "… engine? What is that?" he was asking, and by the looks of him he was eyeing the cars beyond the window.

But the other him wasn't anywhere to be seen. Except… _'It's a machine that gives power to other machines. Kind of like a muscle, but huge, heavy, complicated and technological. Think of it as hundreds of horses in machine form,'_ the familiar thought-voice came over the distance, and Hikaru had to stop and look where it was coming from – except thoughts didn't have direction like voices did. There was only one man near Sai, though, but… that couldn't be him, right? He looked nothing like Hikaru.

"Sit down, brat." the man said, and Hikaru gaped.

"Ah, Hikaru-kun, hello," Sai said, coming over. "Hikaru-san has been telling me what schools are like in this era. How was your day?"

"Uh," Hikaru answered, still staring at the man and then narrowing his eyes. "The hell?" he asked, not quite sure. Was it? It couldn't be, seriously. But… _was it_?

"Sit down already; you're making a scene." the man said amusedly, and yeah, that was his older self's voice. The man looked nothing like his older self, but apparently, somehow, Hikaru really had no idea how… it was.

"You look… different." Hikaru said, while very gingerly sitting down across from the man, not quite sure if it really was the older Hikaru.

"You think so?" the man – seriously, he looked older somehow – asked, while smoothing a hand over the sleeve of his new suede jacket. _'I visited a beauty salon. My hair was dyed and extended, my brows coloured and practically mauled… and I have coloured contact lenses,'_ his older self answered, smirking a bit. _'And you didn't even recognize me. I guess it's working.'_

 _'I'd say,'_ Hikaru answered with a shake of his head. "And where'd you get the jacket?" he asked out loud, still marvelling at the transformation. Just getting your hair and eyes re-done could do that? That was kind of scary.

"Second hand store. The lining's all ruined, so it was pretty cheap," the older Hikaru said. "Do you want something?" he asked then, nodding at the counter with its display of sugary goodies. "Nothing expensive though, I'm not wasting too much money on you." he added, much to Hikaru's disappointment.

"I'll just get a soda, thanks," Hikaru said, and went to get it while his older self paid for it. Soon they were sitting down again, Sai too, though he looked a bit uneasy in the plastic chair, twisting and turning to look at it as if expecting it to collapse. Hikaru snorted at that and shook his head. "So, you look different. Now what?"

"There are still some things to figure out," his older self said. "But with this done," he motioned at himself. "I'm off to a decent start."

"I guess you need to get a job next. And a place to stay," Hikaru mused, frowning and wondering what he'd do in the same position. He had no idea – a job seemed like something that happened to other people. As did homelessness.

"If nothing else I can make some money by playing Go and betting on it, I know a few Go salons that allow that," the older Hikaru said thoughtfully. "But yeah, I suppose I need to get a place to stay next. I'll figure it out, though."

"Sure," Hikaru murmured, shaking his head a bit. He would've liked to help, somehow, but he had no idea how – it wasn't like he had any experience with these things. But the other Hikaru was older, so maybe he knew and could handle it by himself. He certainly had the disguise thing down. "What'll you do once you have it all figured out, though? I mean, if you get a place to stay and a job and stuff like that?"

"I'll play Go. Which reminds me," the older Hikaru said and reached to get something from the floor. "I found something in the second hand store," he said, and took out a wooden board, which had been folded in two. When he opened it, it turned out be some sort of flimsy toy version of a Goban. "It's cheap and ridiculous, but it's a Goban. I also got the stones, but they're glass and a bit chipped, so you need to be careful with them."

"Oh, man. Do I really have to learn Go?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes." the older Hikaru and Sai said together, both smiling at him and making him slump a bit.

"Right now?" Hikaru asked plaintively.

"Well, no. I just bought them for you so that you can practice later at home, and Sai can teach you easily," the older Hikaru said, folding the Goban and putting it back into the plastic bag he had carried it in, handing the bag to Hikaru who sighed but accepted it. "You still need to be properly introduced to Go," the older Hikaru said, smiling with some private amusement. "In a proper place…."

Hikaru frowned, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why does that sound scary as hell?" he asked, glancing at Sai who just blinked back at him in innocent puzzlement. _'Ah, you're no use, are you?'_ he asked, shaking his head at the pout the ghost gave him, and turned to his older self. "By the way, what the hell am I supposed to call you?" he asked. _'It's not like you can be Hikaru too, not forever. I'm Hikaru, after all.'_

 _'Well, so am I,'_ his older self said, folding his arms. "Saito Haruki," he said out loud. _'Sai came up with it.'_

"Haruki, huh?" Hikaru answered, and glanced at the ghost. _'Bit selfish of you, isn't it?_ Sai _to I mean.'_

"Hikaru-san asked for a name with Sai in it," the ghost answered with a huff, while unfolding his fan and holding it up to hide the lower part of his face. "I think it's a fine name."

 _'It works,'_ the older Hikaru said with a snort and a shake of his head. "Anyway, there's something I would like to show you today, if you're game," he said, looking at Hikaru but including Sai with a glance. _'It's a bit early on the timeline, it was few days later than today when it happened to me, but I think it ought to still work, even if we're bit early,'_ he added silently. "There is a Go-salon I'd like for us to visit."

"Go-salon?" Hikaru asked with a frown. "Why?"

"It would be the… proper introduction to Go, for you," his older self answered, grinning slightly at the memory. "It's how I got hooked, and I think it would do you some good, _Hikaru-kun_. Though this time around it will probably go differently than last time, but…" _'And you too, Sai. I think you'll like it.'_

"Well, if it is Go, I am of course, um, game." Sai answered a bit clumsily, but with a happy bounce to his normal floating.

"Ugh, do we have to?" Hikaru asked, but mostly just for show. It was hard not to get curious when it was a person from the future telling him it would do him good.

"Well, we don't _have_ to, but if we don't you'll probably end up missing a lot of what's made Go exciting for me," older Hikaru said, and stood up. "Let's go. And don't forget the Goban I bought you."

"Fine, fine…."

 

* * *

 

It was a bit nostalgic to be there again, Hikaru thought while looking at the front of the Toya family's Go salon. He had only been to the place twice, first more or less by accident, the second time dragged there by Toya Akira, but he still hadn't forgotten the place. And why would he, since the place was pretty much the fanciest Go-salon he’d ever seen? Damn, even the Toyas' side jobs were high and mighty….

"So, what is this place?" his younger self asked, eyeing the salon with suspicion.

"It's a Go-salon, I told you." Hikaru answered, while Sai examined the sign with excitement.

"Yeah, yeah, but what makes this place so special?"

"Well… that's a bit hard to say, really," Hikaru mused. Rivals and such wouldn't really mean much to him at that age – in an odd way, he had been more jaded at twelve than he was at fifteen. Or at any rate, he had thought that he knew the world better than he actually did. It was kinda sad really. And a bit pathetic, he mused before taking hold of his younger self's shoulder. "You'll see, if he is here," he said and pushed the younger him forward. "In we go."

While his younger self grumbled, Sai followed the pair of them silently, looking around with open curiosity. "Hikaru-san?" the spirit asked, unheard by all but Hikaru and, well, Hikaru. "What is a Go salon? Is it like hair-salon?"

 _'No, not really. A hair salon is where people go to get their hair done by professionals – Go salons are just clubs where people gather to play Go with other people,'_ Hikaru answered. _'Most of these people are just hobbyists who play Go because they like it, not because it's their job. Well, this place is a bit different though. A pro owns it.'_

 _'Hmm, a pro, huh. You know them?'_ his younger self asked, looking up at him.

 _'I've met him a few times. He's not the reason why we're here though. Not yet, anyway,'_ Hikaru shrugged mentally and looked up at the woman behind the counter, who was welcoming them in with a curious look about her face. Ishikawa, maybe? He wasn't sure, but it didn't matter. "Hi." Hikaru greeted her, smiling.

"Welcome," she answered, glancing from Hikaru to his younger version, while Sai gazed over the rest of the salon excitedly, looking at the many Gobans arranged on equally many tables. "I don't think I have seen you here before, is it your first time?"

"Yeah, something like that." Hikaru answered, glancing around as well. Now, was he here…?

 _'Yikes. They're all geezers,'_ his younger self thought, shuddering. _'Are all the places like this, full of old men? Oh, hey, is that --'_ "Oh, it's a kid!" the younger Hikaru said, pointing towards the back. "Hey, can we play him? I mean, we're here to play, right? Let's play him!"

Hikaru glanced up and relaxed a bit. It was Toya Akira, who was sitting in the back with a man, apparently playing a teaching game against him. It looked like it was already finished though – Toya was pointing at the board, explaining. "You're not here to play anyone, you don't even know how yet," Hikaru answered his younger self with a snort, reaching out to ruffle the brat's hair. _'Huh.'_ he thought, as the boy squirmed, loudly objecting.

"Stop it!" the brat yelled, trying to squirm away.

Hikaru grinned. So this was why Kawai-san did it, he thought, and ruffled the boy's hair a bit harder much to the brat's horror before turning to Ishikawa. "So, how much is it for…?" he asked, while his quietly grumbling younger self, tried to rearrange his – still partially bleached, the lucky brat - hair.

"Five hundred yen for children, seven hundred and fifty for adults," She answered while taking out the entry book and turning it to face him. "And please write your name and level here."

"Level?" Hikaru's younger self asked.

"How strong you are – or think you are." Hikaru answered, giving the book a bit of an uneasy look before sighing. Well, he had to start calling himself by the new name at some point, he mused while taking the name. Pity, he hadn't even considered what kanji to use for his new name….

"Saito is written with the kanji to _purify_ and _wisteria_ ," Sai offered. "And Haruki with the kanji for _spring_ and _tree_."

 _'So I'm what, a purified wisteria tree in spring, or something?'_ Hikaru asked with a snort, hesitating before writing. _'Hm. It could be worse, I suppose, but…'_ but this visit wasn't about him, so, "Hikaru-kun." he said out loud, feeling a bit weird about calling someone else with his own name, but it was just something he had to get used to. He handed the pen over to the brat, who accepted it and wrote his name down with a sigh.

"You can leave your bag here," Ishikawa said to younger Hikaru, who handed over the plastic bag with the second hand foldable Goban in it. She raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing. "And your level?" she asked instead, thankfully without looking at the registry.

"We'll just leave that open for now," Hikaru answered. The brat had never played and didn't know how after all, and… well, he hadn't written down a name it was a bit moot point to write down a level. Though he supposed he _could've_ written down first-dan for himself or ninth-dan for Sai, but he doubted that would go over well. "Let's play someone first."

"That kid, that kid," his younger self said, nudging at his elbow. "Play him."

"Him, that's… uh…!" Ishikawa said, looking awkwardly at Toya Akira, whose opponent had stood up and was apparently heading to play some other opponent. "I am not quite sure if he's the proper – I mean, perhaps you should start with someone else first."

"I don't want to watch you play some geezer." the younger Hikaru said, nudging at the elder one again.

"Shut up, brat, you're being noisy," Hikaru answered, ruffling his hair roughly again. The whining had caught Toya's attention by now, though, and he was looking at them curiously, standing up from where he had been sitting. "I suppose he looks free, though," Hikaru answered, grinning inwardly. "I wouldn't want to disturb someone else's game…."

"You want to play me?" Toya asked, coming closer.

"Ah, Akira-kun, these two…" Ishikawa said awkwardly, looking between Hikaru and his younger self.

"It's true I'm free at the moment," Toya said, smiling the sort of amiable smile he had never smiled at Hikaru after their initial encounter. It had all been scowls and frowns and growling afterwards. "We can have a game at the back, if you'd like…."

"Yeah, that'll work." Hikaru agreed, having a hard time supressing a grin. He had forgotten how much like a doll Toya looked. And he was so tiny too! Really not much like the cold asshole pro-player Hikaru remembered.

"My name is Toya Akira." Toya said as they walked to the back, Hikaru and an excitedly bouncing Sai following after them.

"Shindo Hikaru," Hikaru's younger self said with a grin. "And this idiot is, um…" he frowned, looking up at Hikaru. "What was your name again?"

"Oh for crying out loud - who's the idiot here, brat?" Hikaru answered, snapping the boy on the forehead with a curled finger and then grinning at the outraged yowl he let out. _'Damn, I was excitable….'_

Toya chuckled at them a bit confusedly, while motioning at one of the empty tables. "We can play here," he said, and they sat down, Hikaru and his excitable brat self on one side with Sai standing behind them, and Toya on other. "So," the son of the Meijin asked while taking one of the stone bowls – he went for the white, much to Hikaru's amusement. "What is your level?"

"Well, who knows. It's been a while. We'll see soon, won't we?" Hikaru answered, taking the other stone bowl.

"It's been a while, hm? Maybe you should put down a couple of stones?" Toya suggested.

"No way – he's older than you!" Hikaru's brat self answered. "Shouldn't you be the one putting a couple of stones down? I mean, that's a handicap, right?" he asked, turning to his older self. Somewhere behind them a few patrons of the salon laughed at that.

"Toya Akira, put down a handicap?" they murmured amusedly.

"Do they even know who they're playing?"

Hikaru glanced backwards at them, making them turn back to their game and then turned to look at his younger self. "Yes, that's a handicap, brat," he snorted and shook his head. "I think we can both go without one, though," he added and opened the bowl of black stones. "Nigiri?"

"Ah… you can go first." Toya offered, looking sheepish.

"Fine," Hikaru answered, not really bothered enough to try and make a fuss about it. _'Sai?'_ he asked. _'It's your game.'_

"Oh, is it? I thought you…. Thank you, Hikaru-san!" the ghost said happily and reached out over Hikaru's shoulder, pointing the first move with his folded fan the way he had in their first game in Heiachi's shed. Hikaru quickly took a stone, marvelling how different this game would be. He was older, and could hold the stones properly this time, so Toya maybe wouldn't look so badly down on him – on Sai. But he doubted Toya still thought he'd be anywhere as good as Sai would be.

"So, are you going to explain the game to me this time?" Hikaru's younger self asked, leaning over the table with his elbows resting on it, a look of boredom and interest mingling on his face.

Hikaru lifted a finger to his lips to quiet him down and then thought silently at him, _'Not this game. Let's just let Sai play.'_

 _'That's so boring,'_ the younger Hikaru thought back. _'I thought we were here because this would be a proper introduction to Go for me. What was that about, if you're not going to explain anything?'_

 _'It is the proper introduction. Just be quiet and watch, you brat.'_ Hikaru answered, and they did.

Slowly the game began to take shape in front of them, with Sai almost giddily pointing out the moves while Toya calmly placed down his own. Around the twenty first move, though, their opponent's expression changed, turning into a mild frown. Hikaru smothered a smile at that – Sai was again playing Shidou-Go, and Toya had just started to realise it.

It was a bit different, to be seated in this position for the second time, only this time he could understand what was going on, to understand the game before him. Sai's playing style was so familiar that it almost ached, and for a moment Hikaru seriously felt sad about all those games Sai had played in the beginning, which he hadn't understood at all. Toya's style was sort of familiar too, but not as much – the few times Hikaru had gotten to see it, he hadn't really understood it. And their oteai game….

He had nothing against the Meijin, the man couldn't be blamed for having a medical emergency. But it still seriously stung, to have that game taken from him.

And who knew how it would turn out this time. Probably nothing like it had but… it would be pretty okay, sort of. Hikaru would make sure his brat self was better prepared, start to force Go into his head a bit sooner, get him stronger a little faster – he had wasted so much time last time by just playing around and not doing anything for weeks, for months, when he could've been learning…. It wouldn't be quite the same as getting to play that lost oteai game, or getting to play himself, but it would be satisfying on a whole different level.

And in the meantime, he would let Sai play through him. Maybe God had a point with the whole thing. This way, both sides win, he mused, while placing down another of Sai's stones. Hikaru Shindo got to learn and play and grow strong, like he wanted to – would want to. And if Hikaru managed to arrange things properly, Sai got to play like he wanted to. Everyone won.

He just needed to get his life quickly into something like an order. A place to live in, some way to earn money, and some sort of identification papers. Lots and lots to do. The ID would probably be the hardest. Thanks to Mitani he knew of a couple of Go-salons where they bet on the games, and even if Sai didn't approve of that sort of playing, Hikaru's own skills would probably be good enough to earn him a bit of pocket money. After that, he could find a place to stay, and there were probably a lot of landlords and ladies who didn't care about legalities that much. But the ID….

If only he could safely go without one. Well, he could to a point, sure, but if he one day wanted a real place to live, a real job, maybe even get stuff like a phone or a bank account again…. It was really irritating that the modern world was so good at tracking its people, and official IDs were needed for every damn thing.

There'd be more time to worry about it later, he decided, and concentrated back on the game. Sai was holding the board in his grip, but not quite as overwhelmingly as he might've. Did Toya yet know he was having Shidou-Go played against him? Probably not, he'd be a whole lot more pissed if he did. Probably thought that he was just being tested. Well, one way or the other, it didn't matter – he was going to lose. Even in Shidou-Go, Sai hated losing.

It made him really nostalgic, the whole thing.

Hikaru's younger self was almost yawning by the time all the moves that could be made had been made. "Are we done now?" the brat asked, after Toya had stared at the board silently for a good two minutes, and Hikaru had leaned back.

"Yeah, we're done. Black wins by two moku," Hikaru answered and bowed his head. "Thank you for your game, Toya-kun," he said and then stood up. "Come on, brat. Let's get your bag."

"Right. Um… yeah." the younger Hikaru said, glancing at Toya uncertainly before getting up. With Sai trailing after them as usual, Hikaru followed his younger self to the counter where Hikaru got the plastic bag from Ishikawa.

"Oh, you're done already?" the woman asked, looking a bit amused.

"All done, thanks," Hikaru agreed. "I just wanted to show the game to the brat here."

"Yeah, except I don't see why. It's not like you did well with that game," the younger Hikaru answered, thinking about it. "Though I suppose you were right about the handicap," he added. "It would've been a bit unfair I guess…."

"Yeah. A bit," Hikaru agreed, snorting.

Ishikawa chuckled. "Well, so as long as you had fun," she said, shaking her head. "Hm. I have something you two might be interested in," she said then, taking out a leaflet from beneath the counter. "There is a children's Go-tournament next weekend," she said, handing it over. "You could check it out – there will be a lot of strong kids there, coming from all around the country."

"Hmm. Strong kids, huh?" Hikaru's younger self murmured, while the older Hikaru grinned at the memories.

"Anyway, we'll be going. Thank you for the leaflet." Hikaru said to Ishikawa, ushering his younger self out.

"You're welcome. Please come again." the woman said, waving after them, while someone in the salon said that they were bit too early to try playing Toya Akira.

"I still don't get why this place was so special," the brat asked, as they were going through the door, shaking his head and then looking at the elder Hikaru, and Sai behind them. "And just two moku, to boot! You suck, Sai. I mean, moku are the points, right?"

"I do not!" the ghost objected, as the door swung shut behind them. "That was Shidou-Go. Winning was never the goal of it."

"Huh?"

"It was a teaching game, not a serious match. Toya had it easy, in that game," Hikaru laughed. "And I think you'll see what was so special about that place sooner than you think," he added, smiling. Even if he was older, Sai's skill was still too good for someone of Hikaru's age. Once Toya came out of his stupor, once he'd realise what the game had been, he would try and find him. Hikaru would make sure he wouldn't, though, not him anyway but the brat….

"I think you should go to that Go tournament, see what it’s like." Hikaru said, taking the leaflet.

"To play?" the brat asked, suspicious.

"No, not to play, you wouldn't know where to start. But to watch," the elder one answered. ' _And take Sai there too. Actually,'_ he added silently, turning to the ghost. _'I think it’s better you go with the brat for today, and maybe for a couple more days.'_

"Go with Hikaru-kun? I do not mind, of course, but why?" Sai asked curiously.

 _'I need to figure stuff out about my living situation and whatnot. It'll be pretty boring,'_ Hikaru answered a bit evasively. _'Anyway, you could explain the game with Toya to the brat, now that he has a Goban. And maybe teach him the basics and stuff.'_

"Ugh. Do I have to?" the younger Hikaru asked, looking at the plastic bag he was carrying with distaste.

"It won't hurt you, and it's not like you were going to do anything all that interesting today anyway," Hikaru answered. _'And besides, in exchange Sai could probably help you with school work. If I remember it right, you're going through the Tempo reforms and whatnot at school – and Sai was there at the time.'_

"Huh?" the brat and Sai asked in unison, looking at each other.

"Ah, you'll figure it out, I'm sure," Hikaru said, waving a hand at them. "I'll see you tomorrow at the café again, alright?"

His younger self eyed Sai a bit uneasily before sighing and shrugging. "Okay, fine. But you’re buying again."

 

x

 

Thoughtfully Sai looked after Hikaru-san, who headed in a different direction than the one they were going. "What do you suppose Hikaru-san intends to do?" he asked curiously, unfolding and closing his fan distractedly.

 _'Hell if I know. I'm just glad he doesn't expect me to help him,'_ Hikaru-kun answered with a shake of his head, and turned to head down the street. _'Come on, Sai. If we're quick about it, we might make it home by dinner time.'_

Sai followed Hikaru-kun, wondering as they went. Toya-kun hadn't been a bad opponent, and he could maybe see why Hikaru-san had made it seem like that particular Go-salon was special. It had been a pleasant surprise to realise that Hikaru-san had intended him to play, though he wasn't entirely sure about the motivation behind it. Hikaru-san himself was a good opponent, after all, perhaps better than Toya-kun had been – their game would have been interesting. Not that Sai minded playing, of course not, it had been very good Go and to see a child so strong… it had indeed been a pleasant surprise. But why?

Hikaru-san had said that the Go-salon would be a proper introduction for Hikaru-kun, but as far as Sai had seen it, very little of it had been about Hikaru-kun. Unless there was a deeper meaning to it? Toya Akira-kun was about Hikaru-kun's age, perhaps precisely as old. Was that it, then? Did Hikaru-san know Toya-kun in the future? It had seemed as if Hikaru-san knew the Go-salon well, he seemed even nostalgic about it, so….

Thoughtful, Sai turned his eyes to Hikaru-kun. The boy had taken nothing with him from the salon, he knew. He had not understood the game, or realised the strength of the opponent. But the opponent himself – Toya-kun – had, and if he had not fully comprehended it, he would. But outwardly that had been Toya-kun's and Hikaru-san's game, not Hikaru-kun's. So why…?

Tapping his lips with his fan in thought, Sai considered the implications of that. Toya-kun with his skills, so far beyond that of an average child and Hikaru-kun, who would one day grow up to be Hikaru-san. And Hikaru-san who had once been Hikaru-kun – and who, when it had been his time, had met Toya-kun without the guidance this Hikaru-kun was getting…. Yes, Sai could see it now, what Hikaru-san's intention was.

The spirit smiled faintly and then frowned. But what about Hikaru-san? And what about Sai himself? Did Hikaru-san have a plan for them? His prayer had been to let Sai play, and he had intentionally adopted Sai's name into his own, obviously with a plan in mind. Now he was out there, somewhere, in this strange modern world, trying to arrange his life so that, that… what? What would Hikaru-san do, once he had those basics covered, once he had a place to live in and an identity he could trust – what then? Sai wasn't sure.

But he couldn't wait to find out.

As he thought, he and Hikaru-kun had reached his home. Last night, when Sai had switched from Hikaru-san to Hikaru-kun and back, the younger of the two had not yet reached his home, so this was the first time Sai had seen where Hikaru-kun lived – and where Hikaru-san _had_ lived. It was a very different sort of house from the place Shusaku's Goban had been kept, a modern house painted yellow with two stories, glass in every window and a door that swung, rather than slid.

"Mo-om, I'm home! Please tell me there's something to eat, I'm starved!" Hikaru-kun yelled the moment he was inside.

"It will be ready in half an hour," a female voice answered from deeper inside the house. "Where have you been, Hikaru? Playing with Akari?"

"I was out with another… friend," Hikaru-kun answered awkwardly, while taking off his shoes. "I'm going upstairs – just yell for me once it's done, okay?"

Sai followed Hikaru-kun up a stair case and into what he assumed was Hikaru-kun's room. "Hm. People have their own rooms in this era?" He murmured, while examining the shelves full of books and marvelling at the bed – it was so high up from the floor. And even Hikaru-kun had his own window – and one of those not-magic boxes that could have people inside it. And…. "What is this?" Sai asked, eyeing a weird contraption with wires and some sort of… he wasn't sure what they were. They were black and had odd protrusions on them.

"It's a play station – you play games with it." Hikaru-kun answered.

"Like Go?" Sai asked, fascinated.

"No, not like Go at all – games like… well they're different anyway," the boy sighed, dropping the odd, thin bag on to the floor and flopping to lie on his back on his odd, high bed. "Man, I'm all stiff. Watching you and the old me play was boring, I almost fell asleep!"

"Only because you did not understand the game, Hikaru-kun," Sai answered amusedly. "Would you like me to teach you?"

The boy considered it for a moment with a grimace. "I don't see why I have to learn Go. I don't care at all about it," he said, but his tone of voice wasn't completely disagreeable. "It's weird that the other me likes it so much. He's supposed to be _me_ and… he's not?"

"I think he is, and I think he knows you better than you can imagine," Sai answered, slowly sitting down on the floor in comfortable seiza. "And I think he enjoys Go so much that the thought of you missing out on what he likes, what he knows you might like, disturbs him." It was something he could understand very well indeed.

Hikaru-kun didn't answer at first, frowning at the ceiling instead. "Why do you like Go, Sai?" he asked.

"That is a bit of a difficult question to answer," Sai said, thinking about it. "I like the battle of wills and the intricacy of that battle. I like how each game is its own unique test of one's skill and might. I like how much I can learn about my opponent through the hands they play, and how each game improves both players…" he trailed away with a smile, closing his eyes. "I like the feeling of accomplishment after a great game. And I love the fact that Go is always moving, always evolving, and that you can always improve upon your skills, your individual Go."

Hikaru-kun frowned at that, glancing at him. "Go is a… battle?" he asked with disbelief. "You just sit there and slap some stones down, how is that a battle?"

"Each game is a struggle, Hikaru-kun," the spirit said. "And it is not just about slapping down some stones, as you say. Each move has its meaning, its worth, its power and its weakness. If you learn to see it…."

The boy scowled a bit and then jumped up and to his feet. "Fine," he said, taking the odd bag from the floor. "It all sounds like gibberish to me, but fine. I wanna see this for myself."

Sai smiled in triumph, and then watched how Hikaru-kun spread the foldable board onto the floor, taking the little see through bags of some odd, translucent material, inside which the Go stones were. "Okay, so, what do I do first?"

"Let me explain about capturing territories first. Please place the stones like this…" Sai started to explain, pointing on the grid and watching the boy place the stones awkwardly, holding them with thumb and forefinger rather than with fore and middle finger. That was alright, though, Hikaru-kun was only starting.

After a while, there were several situations spread throughout the board, black stones surrounding white stones. "These are all atari situations," Sai explained. "Which means that with one stone, you capture the white stones. When you surround the opponent’s stones completely, they are captured – as is the territory they held. Can you see where to put the stone?"

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" the boy asked, and pointed. "Here, here, here and so forth, right?"

"Yes. Now, the points, or moku, are counted by the captured territory. So, with this situation, once you capture the stones in atari, you win one moku, here two, here three, and so forth." Sai pointed.

"So the spots the stones are aren't counted into the territory?" Hikaru-kun asked.

"No, only the empty spaces." Sai agreed. And so it started. Hikaru-kun grasped the basics quite easily, and seemed to get more interested despite his earlier objections. Soon Sai was showing him some life-and-death situations, and Hikaru-kun was slowly solving them, getting the simples ones quite quickly, and having to take a little longer with the more confusing ones.

Though Hikaru-kun was quite obviously a beginner and had no understanding of Go yet, there was potential there. Soon Sai could see why Hikaru-san wanted Hikaru-kun to start learning Go as soon as possible. The boy grasped the idea of the moves quite quickly, which by itself showed that he had the proper sort of mind for Go. Some people could try solving life-and-death problems all their life and get instructed and guided all their life, and not get anywhere – while some, like Hikaru-kun, got the point of them within minutes, and quickly moved on.

Eventually Hikaru-kun was called to eat, leaving Sai alone by the foldable board with its scattered life-and-death problems. Absently he wondered how fast Hikaru-san had learned. Hikaru-san had skill, that much was obvious from the one physical and one mental game they had played – though Hikaru-san had lost, he had done so while displaying great skill.

 _'Hikaru-san also knows all the mistakes he made when he was younger, and only starting with Go. If I understand him right, he might make sure that Hikaru-kun will avoid those mistakes,'_ Sai mused to himself. _'Hikaru-kun might grow stronger faster than Hikaru-san did….'_

 _'You do know I can hear you from down here, right?'_ Hikaru-kun's voice came to his mind, making Sai almost jump. _'Also, do you really think so?'_

A little embarrassed to have been caught so, Sai shifted where he sat. _'I got the impression that when he was younger, Hikaru-san did not study Go as quickly or as well as he might have,'_ he answered silently. _'And I believe he intends for you to grow as strong as he did, only he knows the process it took the first time and can therefore speed it up.'_

 _'So I could become better than he is, even though he's already pro? That's pretty sweet, but… why would he?_ ' Hikaru-kun asked. _'Why would he want me to become stronger than him?'_

 _'Because you are him, he is you, and he wants to become stronger,'_ Sai answered, that bit being as plain as day to him. _'I do not know what, precisely, he plans for himself, but I know he plans for you to become strong.'_

 _'He's weird. If I was him, I'm not sure if I'd bother.'_ Hikaru-kun admitted thoughtfully.

 _'He is older, his priorities are different.'_ Sai answered and eyed the Goban thoughtfully, falling silent.

Whatever else Hikaru-san had in store, whatever else he intended to do with his future knowledge backing him up… it was bound to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

It was Shidou-Go.

How long Akira stared at the damned game he wasn't sure, but at some point it had dawned on him that it was, indeed, Shidou-Go. It was very hard to tell at first, since Akira himself had taken the game seriously and not wasted a single opportunity, and the opponent hadn't given him the usual freedoms and chances one did at Shidou-Go, but certain hands here and there, that one stone, neither defensive nor offensive, not connecting or the opening of a new shape, not strengthening any previous formation, or opening the way to another….

 _'Testing how I would react,'_  he thought bitterly, taking the one stone from the board. He must've replayed the game a dozen times in the week since that encounter, and still he had to pause at that one move, the one which cinched the difference in ability. Vast difference.  _'That man,'_  he thought, thinking of the black haired man with piercing green eyes and a loud boy of Akira's age at his side.  _'That man….'_

But what had been the goal of it? Why come to his father's salon, to play this particular game, against him? Akira was sure the man had known him, it was there, on his face, in his eyes; he had  _known_  whom he was against, there was no doubt of it. The younger boy – Shindo Hikaru, the only one of the two Akira knew the name of – hadn't known. He had been too brazen, too blatant and in the end, too bored.  _'There to watch a game he didn't understand, why? And why did that man play Shidou-Go against me? He did it from the start….'_

Squeezing his fingers into a fist around the single black stone, Akira grit his teeth. It was insulting, beyond insulting, to have a stranger do that to him. But at the same time….  _'Even my father doesn't play Shidou-Go against me,'_  he thought, and opened his fingers again, to look at the stone.  _'And no sensible person, who knew me, would make their first game with me something like that….'_

It was like the man had walked in with every intention of offering the worst possible insult, all the while wearing a smile. But he hadn't acted condescending or arrogant, if anything he had looked amiable and… sad, on occasion. Or if not sad, then morose. Why? Why this game, why then, why like that – what was the point?

 _'It's been a while, he said when I asked about his level,'_  Akira remembered. And Shindo-kun had asked the man if he'd explain the game to him. Was that it, then?  _'The man has not played in a while but he intended to teach Shindo-kun and came here to test his own abilities?'_  Sure, the man's Go had been dated, but in a completely wrong way. It was dated like it was from a hundred years ago, not like he had not played in a while. If anything, the man had held the stones with the fluency of someone who played dozens of games every day – and even without taking a closer look, Akira had seen how the fingernail of his forefinger was worn and dulled by the handling of stones.

 _'Besides, he was not that old,'_  Akira thought, thinking back. The man had been young – if anything, Akira wasn't sure anymore if he had been a man at all, but a teenager who could pass for one. Something about his mannerism – and face too…  _'And if Shindo-kun is always the way he was at that time, anyone would look mature next to him,'_  he mused before frowning again.

Why hadn't the damned man written his name in the registry? Sure, Akira doubted he would've been able to find him even if he had, but then at least he could've checked to see if he had maybe been an insei once, or taken place in amateur tournaments, if he perhaps shared a name with a professional and was maybe related to someone who had taught him, anything!

With a scowl, Akira placed the single stone on its non-defending-non-offending spot and glared at it. His own reaction to that move had been to panic and avoid it, and now he wondered what would've happened if he had taken the bait, what sort of pattern he would've been ushered to build. Most of the clashes on the board had been built that way – he had been guided to them. It was brilliant Shidou-go in its own right and yes, Akira had unwittingly learned a couple of things, but….

What bothered him the most was the fact that he wasn't sure how old his opponent had been. Young adult, old teenager, what? How long had he been playing, who had been his teacher – how long had it taken for the man to get to this level of skill and efficiency? Akira had been around Go stones and Gobans before he had learned to walk, he wasn't even sure how old he had been when he had learned the simplest of concepts of atari and eyes and ko….

 _'My first memory already has me playing against my father,'_  he thought. He had probably been around three at the time, maybe four. Over eight years of Go, and this man, whoever he was, had played Shidou-Go against him.  _'How old is he? Who taught him? Where had he learned? Why does he use such old joseki?'_ he asked, and of course no answers came. And probably wouldn't, unless the man and Shindo-kun decided to walk through the door again – which they had not done, not for days, not for a full week now.

 _'Damn it all.'_  Akira thought, wondering when he had begun to swear so much. Then he glanced up as a shadow came over his face, to see that he had company.

"Akira-kun?" Ishikawa-san asked with a cautious smile. "Hirose-san was wondering if you'd be free for a moment – he'd like to play Shidou-Go with you now."

"Well, if he's not busy." Hirose-san said awkwardly, looking down at the board and re-played game before Akira.

Akira hesitated, frowning at the board. He had been trying to glean some wisdom out of it – and he had – but… "I'm sorry, but…" he started and trailed away, awkwardly. He really didn't feel like playing someone so far less than the man he had played before. It was not Hirose-san's fault, for an amateur and hobbyist the man wasn't bad, but… but….

 _'I want to play that man again,'_  he thought bitterly.  _'I want a serious game. I want to know how good he really is, how the game would go if he wasn't playing Shidou-Go against me. I want to know….'_

Ishikawa-san said nothing for a moment, just looking down at him with a mixed, worried expression. "You are still waiting for them to come back, aren't you?" She asked. "That man who…" beat him, but Ishikawa-san wouldn't say it out loud, she was too polite. "Well, without even knowing the man's name, I suppose that is all you can do, isn't it?"

Akira sighed, and began clearing the board. Maybe he ought to play a bit Shidou-Go, just to clear his head. Then he'd take another look at the game, and….

"Oh, right, now I remember – I gave the boy a flyer to the Children's Go Tournament!" Ishikawa-san said, hitting her palm with her hand. "He didn't seem very interested, but I think I heard the man saying that he ought to go and take a look. Hmm..." she frowned, while Akira perked up.

"Children's Go Tournament – the one today?" he asked and stood up. "What's the time – is it still going -?" he asked, whirling around to glance at the clock. It was still early; they shouldn't even be through the preliminaries yet! "Ishikawa-san, please, if they come back here, please don't let them leave, either of them –"

"Wait, Akira-kun, I just remembered something!" She yelled after him, and he paused at the door, already almost breathless with the eagerness of getting there. Though he didn't care about the boy – he didn't even know Go after all – Shindo-kun knew the man. Would know how to contact him even. If Akira found the boy, he'd find the man.

"What?" he asked, anxious to get going.

"I just remembered," she said, looking embarrassed. "The boy, Shindo-kun? I think he called the man Sai. Yes, I remember, he accused him of sucking and then called him Sai."

"Sai," Akira murmured. His opponent had a name.  _Sai_. "Thank you, Ishikawa-san!" he yelled, and then rushed out.

Shindo Hikaru, and Sai. He'd find them. Somehow, he'd  _find them_.

 

* * *

 

 _'How nostalgic,'_  Kimihiro thought to himself while looking around. It had been a few years since he had taken part in the All Japan Children's Tournament, but he could still remember the nervousness and excitement he had felt. It had been pretty much the only tournament he had ever taken part of and he hadn't gotten very far in the tournament, and probably wouldn't get too far even if he tried the tournament with all he knew now, but… it was nostalgic.

 _'It would be nice if just one or two of these kids would come to Haze,'_  he thought a bit morosely. His junior high didn't have a Go club, or all that many people who were at all interested in Go – it would've been nice to have at least someone there, sharing his interest. Even if it wouldn't have been enough to officially start a Go club or go to tournaments, just having someone to talk to about Go, other than his parents and  _Kaga_  of all people, it would've been….

Pondering on it rather wistfully, he walked among the Gobans, peering down at the games.  _'Hm, these two aren't too good, all though that is an interesting shape,'_  he thought, moving on from one Goban to another.  _'This one is more interesting,'_  he thought and paused there to read the board for a moment, examining one of the situations taking place on the board. ' _Double ko, huh. Doesn't look like they can do much more there, though it will get awkward once they reach yose….'_

After a moment of watching how the two boys played, both having forsaken the double-ko situation for now, Kimihiro moved on to look at other games. If nothing else, events like these were good places to learn new things in. No matter how he rehearsed certain situations and solved difficult Tsume-Go on his own Goban, it didn't quite compare to actually playing. Though of course he did that too – there was a pretty good Go-salon he often visited – but watching other people play was useful, too. Especially if they were kids – who weren't yet so into their own styles that they could play some outlandish hands.

He was just about to move to watch another game – a promising looking one with a couple of spectators already – when he bumped into someone, nearly sending them both into a nearby table. "Ouch!" the boy he had almost run over objected. "Watch it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was –" Kimihiro started to say, pushing his glasses higher up his nose so that he could look at the boy and properly apologise. "Huh?" he said with surprise, blinking. People who came to Go events like these tended to be of a certain sort, and he definitely had not been expecting the bleached bangs, or the vest, or the shorts – or the fairly sporty shoes.

"What?" the boy asked, looking annoyed, and then wincing when a man nearby shushed at them. "Sorry," he said, lifting a hand in a half-assed apology and then looking at Kimihiro. "Hey, isn't that Haze's uniform?" he asked, looking him up and down. "You're from Haze?"

"Um, yes, but, uh," Kimihiro blinked, not entirely sure how to take that – Haze wasn't exactly a famous or popular school, and to have the uniform recognised was a bit weird. He would've understood it if it was something like Kaio – they had very distinctive uniforms – but Haze's were a dime a dozen, really.

"I'm probably gonna go to Haze," the boy said thoughtfully, looking him up and down, and all Kimihiro's former hopes suddenly flared.

"Really? A-and you're interested in Go?" he asked excitedly and then winced as someone shushed them again. "Ah, right. People are playing, we shouldn't be talking in the middle of the event."

"Yeah, probably. I almost pissed someone off already," the boy muttered, giving a dark look at his side – though it didn't look like he was looking at the game going on there. "Would've, if someone hadn't warned me against it. Anyway, I was going to get something to drink."

"I could use some tea," Kimihiro admitted, and somehow, they ended up going together, the shorter boy with the bleached bangs leading the way with his arms behind his neck, looking very bored. "So," Kimihiro started, once they were out of hearing range of any important games. "Do you play Go, uh…" he trailed away and pointed at himself. "I'm Tsutsui, Kimihiro Tsutsui. I'm in my second year in Haze."

"Shindo Hikaru," the boy introduced himself. "And no, well. Not much. A couple of people are teaching me and I can play just a little bit, but not much," he admitted and frowned. "One of them told me to come here and see."

"Oh? See what?" Kimihiro asked, trying to hide his disappointment. Well, Shindo-kun was interested in Go, and had started playing so that was  _something_ , wasn't it? Yes, it was something, more than he could've expected, to be honest.

"Kids who are serious about Go, I guess" Shindo-kun answered as they came to a row of vending machines. With a sigh he rummaged through his pockets until he found some coins. "The people who are teaching me, they seriously want me to learn Go for some stupid reason. I didn't really see the point, I still don't, but… it's sorta impressive. I mean, some of those kids are all younger than me!"

"Some start very early," Kimihiro agreed, while taking out his wallet. "Not that Go has any pre-set age limit. I started to play when I was six, myself."

"Ho? Why?" Shindo-kun asked.

The elder boy had to pause a bit at that. "Why what?" he asked, confused.

"Why'd you start playing Go?" Shindo-kun asked, bending to pick up his soda can and opening it with a flick. "I've been trying to figure this stuff out, but I only know people who are like really,  _really_  seriously into Go. One of them can't remember why or when it started for him and now it's just way of his… life, I suppose. And the other is really annoying and secretive and keeps laughing at me saying that I would  _see_ ," he snorted derisively. "So, why'd you start?"

"Oh, I see," Kimihiro answered and tried to remember. "I think… I saw some other people play. It looked interesting." he admitted, not entirely sure.

"Is it?" Shindo-kun asked, looking at him intently.

"Yes. I think it is," Kimihiro said, and then quickly pulled out the book he had bought at the start of the tournament. "I've always liked solving puzzles, and Go can be like that," he said, and quickly leafed through the pages of the Tsume-go book, until he got to one of the simple problems. "Do you know about life-and-death problems?"

"Yeah, one of the guys has me solving them every night," Shindo-kun said, peering at the diagram on the page. After a quick blink, he pointed at the grid. "First hand here, right?"

"Yes!" Kimihiro said, a bit surprised. It was still a fairly low level problem, but a complete beginner wouldn't have been able to figure it out that fast. He quickly turned the page. "What about this one?"

"Right there," Shindo-kun pointed, peering at the book. "These are really simple ones, though, aren't they? Is there anything harder there?"

"Um. Let me see," Kimihiro said, so excited about having someone – who was possibly coming to his school – not just be interested in Go but also this familiar with it, that he did it without thinking. "Okay, this is a bit harder." he said, peering at the diagram thoughtfully. He probably would've been able to solve it pretty quickly – he had only gotten the book and hadn't more than glanced at through it, so he didn't know the solution instantly.

"Let me see that," Shindo-kun said, taking the book and glaring at it for a moment. "Ah, here," he said then pointing. "First hand here. Second… here."

"Really?" Tsutsui asked, leaning closer. "It could go here too," he pointed, and for a moment they pointed out hands until the Tsume-Go was solved. Blinking at it a bit, Tsutsui glanced up. "How long have you been playing, Shindo-kun?" he asked curiously. Shindo wasn't a total beginner – he had a good grasp of the life and death and he had seen the process of the problem pretty quickly.

"About a week?" the boy asked, taking a sip of his soda.

What? "A… week?" Kimihiro asked, just to be sure he hadn't misheard.

"Yeah," Shindo-kun said, shrugging and looking at him with blank curiosity. "Why?"

Kimihiro blinked and then looked at the Tsume-Go they had just solved.  _'Well,'_  he thought to himself, feeling a bit faint. How long had it taken him to get to the level where he could solve Tsume-Go like that? A couple of years?  _'I… suppose some people can pick up these things quicker than others. But a week? He must have a good teacher. Or a brutal one.'_

"So," he said out loud, looking up. "You might be coming to Haze next spring?"

"Yeah, probably. Unless my parents like win the lottery or something, which I doubt." the boy said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I… have been trying to start a Go-club at Haze," Kimihiro admitted. "Right now I'm the only one who's interested though. Maybe…. Well, the Haze School Festival will be soon, maybe you would like to come and check us out?" he asked hopefully. "The Go-club is nothing very impressive right now, but maybe…."

"Yeah, I might," Shindo-kun said, and then looked at the book Kimihiro was holding. "So, are there a lot of books like these?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, many, and more are made each year," Kimihiro agreed excitedly. "This is just a Tsume-Go book, a bit older one by Honinbo Kuwabara. I bought it here, actually – oh, and I bought the Toya Meijin's Go Tutorial, which was published just this month…."

"Honinbo? Wait,  _Toya_  Meijin?" Shindo-kun asked, frowning a bit.

"Uh… yes?" Kimihiro asked and looked at him. "Wait, could it be you don't know about the title tournaments?"

"The what now?"

It was a bit weird, to actually need to explain the titles and tournaments to someone who already had a bit of skill in Go, but if Shindo-kun really had only been playing for a week, it made sense. It was obviously all news to the boy, whose eyes widened when Kimihiro explained the Meijin title, held currently – and for couple of years now – by Toya Koyo. It was nothing compared to the gob smacked look the boy got to his face when Kimihiro told him the price-tag on the tournaments – which was thirty seven million yen just for the Meijin title alone, and already enough to make a person's head spin.

"Wait, people can earn that much money by playing Go?" Shindo-kun asked. "Whoa. W-what about the dan levels – what would a first dan player earn?"

"Well, that depends on their skill and the games they play, the tournaments they play in and the prices they win. Most lower dan players have day-jobs, other than Go," Kimihiro said thoughtfully. "Lots of Go-professionals teach Go, or write tutorial books or guide books on the side. The higher dan players tend to be able to live off on their tournament winnings, though."

"Huh," Shindo-kun said, and then leaned his head back, thinking about it. "So people can actually make a living by playing Go. That's pretty… weird?" he asked, speaking more to himself than to Kimihiro. "So, this Toya Meijin guy. Um… would he, by any chance, be related to guy called Toya Akira?"

"Toya Akira is his son," Kimihiro said slowly. "You… know him?"

"One of the guys teaching me dragged me to a Go salon where he played against Toya Akira," Shindo-kun shrugged. "So that kid is the son of a Go-professional. Did he know he'd be there? How could he know, though?"

"Well, the Toya's own a Go-salon," Kimihiro said, not quite following. Though if Shindo-kun's teacher, or one of them at any rate, was so confident about his skills that he could face off against Toya Akira, then… maybe it made sense, that Shindo-kun had only played a week, and already had this good a grasp of the basics.

"So even the Meijin has a side job? Okay, this Go-business doesn't sound as profitable as I thought." Shindo-kun said, snorting – then he did something weird, ducking his head like trying to avoid something hitting him. While Kimihiro watched, the boy threw a glare behind him, but there was nothing there – no reason for his annoyance.

"Um… So," Kimihiro said slowly. "Do you think you would be interested in the Go club?" he asked, not sure what else to say

"Yeah, maybe, I might. When was the school festival thing? I might check it out," Shindo said, and quickly Kimihiro told him the date. It would be next month, though, and who knew if Shindo-kun would still be into Go by the time the festival happened, but… there was always a chance. And even if Shindo-kun seemed a bit brazen and maybe a bit strange, Kimihiro would love to see anyone, even him, potentially joining the club.

"Alright, I'll try to remember," Shindo-kun promised and then winced away from something again. "I will remember," he promised, this time with more certainty, grimacing slightly. "Doubt I’ll be allowed to forget." he added under his breath.

"Al… alright. I'll look forward to seeing you there, then," Kimihiro said and smiled a bit awkwardly. "I think I'll go back to watch the games, they should still be going. What about you?"

"I'll go back a bit later. I'm taking a break," the boy said, shaking his head. "Bye, Tsutsui-san." he said, with a wave of his hand.

"Bye, Shindo-kun." Kimihiro said, still a little awkward, but recognising the dismissal.  _'What a weird boy,'_  he thought as he headed back to the hall where the games were going on. Why did Shindo keep wincing like that? Well, it didn't matter.  _'I hope he’ll still be interested in Go when the festival comes around,'_  he thought.  _'It would be so nice to have more people in the club….'_

 

* * *

 

Sighing to himself, Seiji slipped away from the hall. He didn't mind being in amateur events, not at all, it was all part of the job, but… he really, really did not like children. One of the boys playing near the west exit had very nearly thrown a fit when he had realised he was losing, and his father had almost thrown a worse fit after the boy had been, very politely of course, asked to make himself scarce. It was times like this that made Seiji regret the fact that Go-events didn't normally have any security personnel – it would've been extremely satisfying to see the blubbering idiot just thrown out.

 _'Amateurs,'_  he thought, taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose. They had their place in the Go world, and really, there wouldn't be much of an occupation for him without them, but damn, they could be wearisome. Most of them could behave themselves, thankfully, but every now and then there was that one, a child or their parent, or a lone adult player, who thought they were god's gift to Go and that it was impossible for them to as much as lose a stone. Worse were the spoiled little brats who had been taught by their overly adoring parents to think that they were the best at everything – only to realise in a  _competition_  of all places that maybe the world didn't revolve around them after all.

 _'I need a drink,'_  he thought irritably, and then looked morosely at the line of vending machines – none of which served anything even remotely alcoholic, of course.  _'Well. Some caffeine and a smoke will have to do, I guess,'_  he though, and headed for the vending machines while taking out his wallet. He needed a new pack of cigarettes anyway – at this rate, he'd be out in a couple of hours.

Thankfully there was no one in the hall, but one lone kid who seemed to be dozing off on one of the benches, and thus was ignoring him. Ignoring him, Seiji went about getting his drink and smokes, thinking about the Meijin Tournament. If all went according to plan and he won the next game, he'd get the chance to challenge Toya-sensei that year….

 _'A title would be…'_  he thought, trailing away before shaking his head. He didn't allow himself to fantasise about things like that, not even on days as irritating as this one. Though a title would be nice, day dreaming about it was just an idiotic waste of time. What he needed to do was play, practice, train and get better and then  _take_  one. The sad fact of it was, he had played pretty much all of the best of the Japanese pros already, and for all those games – good games, great games – had taught him… the Japanese professional Go-world was small, and it's talent limited.  _'Oh, what I wouldn't give for one new genius with something new to add to the pot,'_  he thought with a sigh.

Sure, Toya Meijin's genius in Go was unrivalled, and Kuwabara Honinbo's decades and decades of experience was of course something to marvel at. Zama Ouza was not one to sneer at either, and neither was Ichiryuu Kisei…. But Seiji had studied all their kifu and styles for years – and very little about them surprised him. Amazed him, no doubt, and he was never beyond taking their example… but nothing about it was surprising.

"Man, enough already!" a voice snapped, and Seiji just managed to keep himself from jumping with surprise. The boy who had been dozing off lifted his head, looking irritated. He noticed Seiji and grimaced, looking away. "Geez," the boy – who had rather blatantly bleached fringe of all things – muttered embarrassedly and stood up, throwing his empty can of soda into the nearest trash bin. Then, grumbling quietly to himself, the boy walked away, intending to head to the hall judging by the direction he was going.

 _'Bleached bangs, huh,'_  Seiji mused and shook his head, concentrating on opening his pack of smokes. Not that he was one to criticize anyone's hair style – even if his hair was  _mostly_  natural, without occasional touch up the colour would've been a sort of murky light brown that really didn't fit him.  _'I hope partially coloured hair isn't going to be a fashion or something.'_  he though, while lifting a cigarette to his lips.

"Ogata-sensei!" a familiar voice called breathlessly just as he was lighting the end of the cigarette. Leaning back a bit, he saw Akira who apparently had been  _running_. The boy was bent over and gasping for breath, leaning his palms on his knees.

"Akira-kun?" Seiji asked with disbelief. He had never seen the kid so much as  _jog_ , and here the kid was, actually breathless and… yes, sweaty. It looked like he hadn't been just running, but he had been running for a while. "What is going on?" He asked, curious despite himself – and a bit worried. There were  very few things that could make this kid run. He knew for a fact that Toya Meijin was somewhere in the building, and most likely alright  – so had something happened to Akiko-san? Or to the salon?

"Ooh, my side hurts," the boy gasped slightly, straightening up and rubbing the side of his stomach with a wince. "Ogata-sensei," Akira started again, after catching his breath enough to speak levelly. "Have you seen a boy here – with partially bleached hair?" he asked. "He's about my age and -"

"About this height?" Seiji asked, holding his hand up in the air, wondering. The kid hadn't seemed like someone Akira would know or associate with – but then, Seiji didn't know much about how Akira was, outside his parent's house or the Go-salon. "Yes, I saw him – he was just here."

"Where did he go? Please, Ogata-sensei – where did he go?" the kid asked almost anxiously, stepping closer eagerly. "He didn't leave did he?"

"No, he headed to the hall, I think –" Seiji stopped, as Akira just ran past him, not even stopping to hear the rest of it. More shocked by the boy's behaviour than insulted, Seiji looked after him. He had  _never_  seen Akira be so passionate about  _anything_. The kid was actually, seriously  _running_.

After only a split second of consideration, he put out the smoke he had only just lit, stuffed the packet into his pocket and headed after the kid. He didn't know what this was about, but whatever had Akira so excited had to be something important. And, if he knew Akira right, it probably had something to do with Go.

"Shindo-kun!" he could hear Akira's voice over the general buzz of the crowd – it seemed that the time of the preliminaries had ran out just a few moments previous and the winners had been announced. Seiji had to weave through the crowd a bit to see Akira reaching his goal – which didn't look much like a meeting and even less like a friend in a hurry to find another friend. It looked more like a confrontation.

At least, until the boy with bleached bangs spoke. "Oh, Toya," he said, with open surprise and seeming not at all affected by the way Akira had called at him. "I was wondering if you'd be here – I didn't see you at any of the tables though. You're not playing?"

"What? No, I don't play in tournaments," Akira answered, blinking with surprise. "Um, how about you, are you…?"

Seiji had to smother a smile as he stopped at a distance to watch, opening his can of cold coffee and taking a sip. He had never seen the boy baffled either. This was surprisingly entertaining.

"No, I don't know how to play well enough yet," the other kid, Shindo, said, crossing his hands behind his neck and looking around idly. "It's pretty cool though. I didn't know so many kids played Go, and so seriously too."

"Ah, yes, he's only started teaching you, right?" Toya asked and then suddenly took a step forward. "You know how to contact him, right – you know where he is? I want to play him again!"

"What?" Shindo asked, turning a bit to look at him.

"Sai!" Toya snapped. "You came into my father's salon with him, that man – his name is Sai, right?"

"Sai?" Shindo answered with a shocked look, and lowered his hands. "How'd you… wait, you mean the other – his name isn't  _Sai_!"

"Ishikawa heard you call him Sai when you were leaving," Akira answered.

Shindo took a step back with surprise, and Seiji took another sip of his drink. He had never suspected that Akira could be so overly dramatic – he was just an inch away from pointing an accusing finger at the other boy. "Um…" Shindo said, looking awkward and then blinked. "Um, yeah, I might've." he admitted then, glancing to the side and scratching his cheek.

"Well?" Akira asked. "You know how to contact him, right – you know where he lives?"

"I have no idea," Shindo said, shrugging and pushing his hands into his pockets. "Well he might live somewhere, probably, but I have no idea where – he doesn't tell me about that stuff," he said and looked a bit annoyed. "Since then he hasn't actually told me much anything, except to keep practicing Go and that – uh – stuff," he added, glancing at the side again and shrugging again. "Why'd you want to play him anyway?" he asked.

"Because –" Toya started to say and then blinked. "Because he was playing a teaching game against me. I want to play him seriously – I want a rematch."

Seiji paused a bit at that, lowering his can and looking at the pair of them more closely. Someone had played a teaching game against Akira? Even he didn't do that anymore – Akira was already at the level of the lower dan pro-players, and constantly growing better. Someone had actually played Shidou-Go against the boy? Why? When?

"Yeah, he told me he did," Shindo answered awkwardly. "I don't see why you’d want to play against him again, though, after that. The way I'd figure it, it ought to piss you off, right?"

"Well…" Akira muttered, hesitating and looking like he’d very much like to agree – but being  _pissed off_  just wasn’t a Toya type of thing to do. The kid had been taught to be way too polite. Akira sighed irritably and shook his head. "How old is he, anyway? Sai-san that is?"

"Okay, first, his name isn't Sai. Sai's just, uh… sorta like a nickname. His name is Saito Haruki," Shindo said with a shake of his head. "And I think he's… fifteen?" he more asked than stated, drumming his chin thoughtfully with his fingers, thinking about it. "Yeah, I think he's about fifteen."

"F-fifteen?" Akira asked, and that was it.

Without a second thought Seiji pushed forward and closer to talk to Shindo himself. "A fifteen year old played Shidou-Go against Akira-kun?" he demanded, making Shindo jump back a bit.

"What the hell?" the boy asked almost accusingly, frowning at him.

"Akira-kun, how did the game go?" Seiji asked, turning to the boy.

"Sai – I mean, Saito-san won by two moku. But it was a teaching game from the start, even if I only realised it afterwards," Akira admitted with a grimace and turned back to Shindo. "How long has he been playing?" he demanded to know. "Who is his teacher – do you know?"

"How the hell should I know – I've only known him for a week!" Shindo answered, taking a step back and scowling at Akira. He glanced around himself a bit uneasily – people around them were looking at them with interest, a few murmuring behind their palms, pointing at them – at Seiji and Akira, both of whom were well known in the Go-world.

"We're making a scene." Seiji said.

"Yes." Akira agreed, and then promptly grasped Shindo by the hand and began dragging him away, ignoring the loud objection of, "Oi, what the hell, Toya!" Seiji, ignoring it as well, followed, more than ready to hear the rest of this. A fifteen year old, who was better than Toya Akira – who was better than pretty much all amateurs in Japan, and quite a few of the professionals? Yes, he definitely wanted to learn more.

Soon the three of them were back at the vending machines, where there were only a few people getting drinks and heading back to the hall. "Okay, you can let go now," Shindo snapped and promptly took his hand back, rubbing at his wrist and frowning at Toya. "The hell was that anyway." he muttered, putting a quick couple of step's distance between himself and both Akira and Seiji.

"I want to play Saito-san again." Akira said, while Seiji folded his arms, looking at Shindo expectantly.

"Yeah, I got that," the other boy said irritably and frowned. "Is it really this important to play him?" he asked then, looking between Akira and Seiji uneasily. "And who are you?" he asked then, looking at Seiji. "And what do you want?"

"This is Ogata Seiji – he's a ninth dan professional player," Akira introduced him, ever the soul of manners. "And Ogata-sensei, this is Shindo Hikaru, Saito-san's student."

"If someone beat Akira-kun while playing Shidou-Go against him, I want to see the rematch." Seiji answered, ignoring the introductions but pressing the kid's name into his memory.  _'And if they are as good as Akira-kun seems to think… I might want to play this Sai myself.'_

Shindo frowned at the both of them and then glanced to his side uneasily. For a long moment he was silent, obviously considering his options before he finally scowled hard. "I don't know where he is or if he's free, but I guess I can… check it out," he said with annoyance. "Are there, um… any pay phones here, or something?"

"There are some in the lobby," Akira said and made a move to take Shindo's hand again – only to be deftly ducked by the boy.

"I can find it myself, just tell me where it is," the boy snapped, and after getting the directions he nodded. "Just wait here, I don't want you hovering over my shoulder," he snapped at them when both Akira and Seiji stepped to follow him. "I won't run off or anything," he added and then walked away, grumbling all the way, some of which went along the lines of, "freaking Go weirdoes…."

"So," Seiji said, turning to Akira curiously, once they were alone. "This Saito-san. He is really that good?"

"He dominated the board from the start, I never had… I want to know how good he really is, I want a serious game," Akira said, his fingers curling into fists. "I want to know."

"Hmm…" Seiji answered, and then pulled out his pack of smokes, figuring he would have the time to finish it. "I think I would like to see this game." he said.

"I can replay it for you sometime," Akira said and sighed, taking a seat and suddenly looking a bit embarrassed with himself. "I… acted rather rash just then, didn't I?"

"A bit," Seiji agreed with some amusement. "I've never seen you like that, Akira-kun. It was quite entertaining."

The boy just sighed and buried his face in his hands for a moment before looking up. "Fifteen," he said then. "Saito-san isn't that much older than me, and yet…" he narrowed his eyes a bit. "Who is the strongest junior player in Japan?"

"Below the age of eighteen? You are." Seiji answered without hesitation.

"But after me?"

The professional player considered it for a moment. There wasn't any truly striking insei currently – there was Shinichiro Isumi, but he doubted very much the boy was anywhere near as good as Akira – and besides, wasn't that insei almost eighteen? He had heard about some other boy, another amateur, who had won an adult tournament – Ochi, was it? But… "No one comes to mind." he admitted. The closest to Toya who was still a junior and well known would be Ko Yeong-ha, but he was Korean, not Japanese.

"If Saito-san really is as strong as I think he is… why haven't I heard of him before?" Akira murmured.

Seiji didn't answer, just dragged another breath through his cigarette and held it. "Could be that he is like Kurata fourth-dan," he said then. Kurata had come out of nowhere too and no one had much heard of him – not until suddenly he had just been there, passing through his pro-exam and having no equal among the lower dans.

"Maybe, if Shindo manages to arrange the rematch, you can ask him." he added, and together they waited for the boy's return.

It was long time in coming – a good ten minutes passed and Seiji was a bit surprised no one had come calling for him to make an appearance between games. Then the boy finally came back, looking irritated and a bit worried.

"He can't today," Shindo said, before Akira could do more than stand up and open his mouth. "He's busy. But he said he'll come to your dad's salon tomorrow, if that's okay. If not, then sometime next weekend, whenever suits you."

"Tomorrow is fine – did he say when?"

"He said he'd be there sometime after four," Shindo said, looking a bit relieved, shoving his hands into his pockets and giving them a sideways look. "So," he said, frowning a bit when neither of the two Go-players said anything, Akira being no doubt too relieved and excited, and Seiji wondering if he'd be finished with his game tomorrow early enough to see this Saito-san playing against Akira. Shindo didn't seem to appreciate their distractedness. "Can I go now?" he asked sounding irritated.

"Ah, yeah. And thank you, Shindo-kun." Akira said, seeming to recall his manners. He even bowed.

"Yeah, yeah. Happy to be of service." the boy with bleached bangs muttered, and quickly made his exit, glancing at Akira once over his shoulder and scowling before vanishing behind a corner.

"Oh, I must've come across as horribly rude," Akira muttered regretfully, before straightening his back. "Tomorrow," he said. "I will play him tomorrow. Yes."

"Excited?" Seiji asked, lifting an eyebrow and smiling a bit. The boy didn't answer, but he didn't really expect him to.

 _'Interesting,'_  the ninth-dan thought, and finished his smoke. It would be a bit close, but he thought he'd be able to make it there tomorrow to see this Saito-san, and the game.  _'We'll see then, if Akira-kun's assessment of his supposed strength is correct.'_

 

* * *

 

Akira had been waiting for two hours by the time Ogata-sensei came. The entire Go-salon was by that time silent – either respectfully or nervously, it was hard to tell and Akira didn't really care. Maybe some of his own anxiety had been bleeding into the atmosphere, but there is very little of the usual jovial chatter that normally crowded the air of the Go-salon his father owned.

"Not here yet?" Ogata-sensei asked, sitting across from Akira with the empty, ready Goban between them.

"No sight of him, no," Akira said, and glanced at the clock. Ten minutes past four. Well, Shindo-kun hadn't said that Saito-san would be there precisely on the dot.  _Sometime after four,_  had been the precise term. Akira could only hope it wasn't too much after four.

"Did you tell your father about this?" Ogata-sensei asked, glancing up and smiling fleetingly at Ishikawa, who carried him his usual cup of western dark tea. "Thank you."

"No. He is busy with the tournament, and it might be that the first game was a fluke, I didn't want to waste his time," Akira admitted. And, if he was honest, he didn't want his father there at all. His father was a great player but an imposing presence for those who didn't know him – and Akira didn't want Saito-san unnerved by such a presence. Or worse yet, interested – he doubted he would've been able to take it, if his father's presence would've motivated Saito-san to ignore him in favour of his father. Some professionals, who while young were older than Akira, did that and it could be… highly unpleasant.

Sighing, Akira leaned back in his chair and looked at Ogata-sensei. "How did your game go?" he asked idly.

"Well enough. I won by two and half moku." the man answered, taking a sip of his dark tea.

"Congratulations," Akira said. With that game Ogata-sensei had cleared the preliminaries and was back in the Meijin tournament – having lost his spot in the actual tournament due to an accident the previous year. "I wish you luck in the tournament."

"Thank you," Ogata-sensei said simply and looked around. "This place is unusually quiet."

"Ah, Ishikawa let them know that Saito-san will be returning here today," Akira admitted embarrassedly. "Everyone has been pretty quiet since."

"Hm," the professional said and sipped his tea again. "Would you replay the game you played last time for me? I have been wondering about it since yesterday."

"Sure," Akira said, and accepted the bowl of stones as Ogata-sensei handed it over. With quick hands he began placing the stones down, black, white, black, white, until the shape started to form. Ogata-sensei watched silently without making a comment, just sipping his tea with his eyes flickering from one shape to another, narrowing his eyes at one connection and then, when Akira got to that hand, he leaned forward a bit.

"At that point, I realised he wasn't using his full strength against me," Akira admitted, as he paused there, staring once more at that damned hand, which even now seemed to test him. "I hadn't even suspected before that, and it wasn't until much later that I understood that the whole game had been Shidou-Go, but… this hand shook me."

"I can see why," Ogata-sensei agreed, leaning in for a closer look. "His joseki is old," he then said. "And this, here? Did he think much before placing this stone down?"

"Not at all, the way I saw it," Akira admitted bitterly. "He didn't need to think much before hands – he wasn't unnecessarily hasty, but I don't think I made him pause once. He might've used the time I was thinking to plan ahead, but… I doubt it. This was never a serious game to him."

Ogata-sensei didn't answer, instead he reached the remove one stone, a black one – which had cut the white off rather efficiently "He has an interesting style," he said thoughtfully, flipping the stone idly in his fingers while examining the patterns. "Old, but… I can't see any mistakes on his side."

Akira gave him a flat look and the man smiled faintly. "Or yours," Ogata-sensei amended, at which Akira just shook his head.

"Do you want me to replay the rest of the game?" the younger Go player asked.

"Please," the ninth-dan said, placing the black stone back where he had taken it, and then watching as Akira continued his replay. The game had been played all the way to the end of yose and all the way until the territories had been counted he had thought there was still a chance. But then, his opponent had been keeping the game level all the way until then. In the end Saito-had taken the win – though at any moment he would've chosen, he could've given it away without looking at all like it was a conscious choice.

"Fifteen, hm?" Ogata-sensei asked, once the replay was finished, and Akira was once more left with black winning by two moku.

"He's younger than I expected," Akira admitted. Saito-san hadn't looked that young. Of course, age didn't mean much in Go, but… he hadn't seemed that young. Only three years older than him, and so much better. Unless, of course, the game was a fluke. Sighing, he leaned back and folded his arms. "I wasn't playing seriously in the beginning either. He said he had not played in a while, and the first hands were… a bit strange. I didn't realise how old-fashioned they were until they really started taking shape," he admitted. "We both could've played so much better."

"Yes. I can see why you'd want a rematch," Ogata-sensei agreed and finished his tea. "This will be an interesting game to watch, if Saito-san appears."

"Do you think he won't?" Akira asked, trying not to sound as anxious as he felt.

"You said it yourself. This wasn't a serious game to him. He doesn't have as much invested in this as you do," Ogata-sensei pointed out brutally but truthfully. He shrugged and then stood up. "I'm going to have a smoke." he said, and without further words he headed to the exit – Ishikawa having long since established a stiff policy against smoking inside the Go-salon.

Sighing again, Akira eyed the game for a moment longer, before starting to clear it away.  _'No, it wasn't a serious game for Saito-san. But… he must know it was for me. He knows of me, he must know….'_

He didn't let himself think any further and instead cleared the board, setting the stone bowls on top of the Goban. Then he took a deep breath and cleared his mind. He wouldn't help himself if he started to panic or worry himself needlessly. If Saito-san appeared, he would be ready. If he did not… then there would perhaps be that weekend, or next week.

Ogata-sensei  returned soon after, smelling of tobacco and carrying with him a new cup of tea. He didn't say anything as he took a seat – this time at Akira's side, rather than across the board – and together they waited, Ogata-sensei drinking his tea while Akira kept his eyes closed and his mind calm to the best of his ability. He'd wait for an hour. After that, he would play like he always did – maybe Ogata-sensei would like a game, and if not, then Akira wouldn't mind playing some teaching games against the customers….

When the bells of the door rang and Ishikawa called, "Welcome – oh, it's you two!" which was followed by the clatter of chairs being pushed back and people standing up, Akira forced himself not to look. When Ishikawa gasped and cried, "Oh, what's happened to your face?" Akira had to look.

It was Saito-san, with a disgruntled looking Shindo-kun following closely behind him – and the reason for Ishikawa's gasp was immediately evident. Saito-san had a purple bruise on his left cheek and his lower lip was red and noticeably split. While Akira stared with wide eyed astonishment, the fifteen year old with shoulder length black hair waved a dismissive hand at Ishikawa, and approached Akira and Ogata-sensei, both of whom stood up in shock at the sight of him.

The black haired teen grinned at them despite the fact that his lip looked like it really hurt, his queer pale green eyes flashing regardless of the slight swelling beneath the left eye. "Ain't I pretty?" he asked, pretty much murdering the mood his appearance had created.

"S-Saito-san." Akira said, trying to somehow think through what he was seeing. It was obvious that the teen had gotten a beating, but… Akira's mind almost refused to figure out why, or how. Saito-san was so obviously a  _Go-player_  and yet….

"Never mind, Toya-kun, seriously," Saito-san said, and then looked at Ogata-sensei, lifting a single thin, sharp eyebrow at the man.

"Saito-san, I presume?" the ninth-dan asked, overcoming his surprise quicker than Akira had. "I'm Ogata Seiji – Akira-kun told me about your previous game and I admit I'm curious to see the rematch."

"You and everyone else here, I see," Saito-san answered, glancing around at the customers, who were all standing, watching them, waiting for them to sit down again so that they could come closer to watch. "Well, who cares," the black haired teen said, and walked around the table, every eye there following him until he sat down across from Akira. "Hikaru." the teen said commandingly, pointing to the seat beside him.

"Man." the boy with bleached bangs sighed, but followed him and sat beside him, to watch.

Akira shook himself a bit. It was still weird to see someone so… battered across the Goban, but Saito-san himself didn't seem to notice and Shindo, though obviously uncomfortable and worried, wasn't saying anything about it, so…. He glanced at Ogata-sensei, who shrugged and sat down, and then sat down himself. Immediately, the regulars at the salon closed ranks around them, forming a wall of people which obviously unnerved Shindo-kun, but which Saito-san didn't even seem to notice.

"You, could you back up a bit?" Saito-san said to the man behind him. "I don't want people standing right behind me today, if you don't mind."

Hirose-san blinked with surprise and then quickly moved away, looking a bit puzzled. Saito-san ignored him and turned to face Akira again. Akira eyed him thoughtfully for a moment before mentally editing out the bruises, and thinking of the man – no, the  _Go_  beneath. He couldn't afford distractions.

Together they took the bowls from atop the Goban. "I'll nigiri," Akira said and Saito-san nodded and both of them took some stones. While Akira laid down the handful of white stones, Saito-san released two black ones – the number came out even, leaving the black stones to Saito-san.

"The Komi is five and half, if you agree." Akira said, not letting that bother him. He would do his best with or without the benefit of the first move.

"That's fine," Saito-san said with a nod, setting the stone bowl beside the Goban. He bowed his head. "Please give me your guidance." he said and Akira answered in kind, his mind and vision concentrating on the board and blocking out all else.

Saito-san played the lower left kosumi, and Akira paused to ponder, to remember – in the last game, the board had been completely in Saito-san's control, which meant he could read far ahead. Akira would have to read farther this time, and be careful with his plans, he couldn't play just however the game would go. This was more serious than that, the opponent much more intelligent.

Every single hand had to count, every single hand had to have a purpose. There could be no mistakes – this would, this had to be, his best game. Anything less was unacceptable.

Releasing his breath, his plans made, Akira took a white stone and played his first move.

 

* * *

 

 _'Hmm… not bad, Akira-kun,'_  Seiji mused, though he was more impressed by the boy's intent and seriousness – the fire glowing in his eyes – than he was by the game. Akira had always been a highly serious player, a genius of Go if there ever was one, but he had never seen the boy like this, so serious, so intent. It wasn't really until this point that he believed that Toya Akira could really one day surpass his father, despite what the Meijin had said.

 _'Saito-san, though… is completely unaffected,'_  he thought, eyeing the young man across the table. It was still somehow difficult to look at the teen's battered face, and Seiji had to admit, his mind wasn't on the game as much as it was in wondering about this particular player. What he had expected had been drastically crushed by Saito's appearance.  _'Those are no idle injures. He was limping too and he is favouring his right hand entirely,'_  he added, glancing at the teen's left arm, the hand of which was resting in the teen's lap, unmoving.  _'No sport or accident would do this. He has been very intentionally beaten up.'_

The cause of which could be anything from school yard rivalries to abuse at home to… something more serious. Saito didn't seem troubled at all, if anything the teen seemed cheerful, uncaring, unaffected.  _'So, it is either a common occurrence and he is adjusted to it… or he is certain it will not happen again,'_  the ninth-dan thought, and then glanced at the boy at Saito's side. Shindo wasn't unaffected, though. Unable or unwilling to follow the game, the boy was every now and then glancing at Saito, frowning and wincing in sympathetic pain every time Saito lifted his right hand to brush across the split lip. But then, if Seiji remembered it right, Shindo hadn't known Saito for long….

 _'Quite a curious case, this Saito-san,'_  Seiji thought, folding his arms and looking down at the game.  _'And his strength…'_  Akira had been right in his assumption. Saito was strong. Akira was thinking long and hard for every move, strategizing every hand as far as he could, but Saito was matching him, and surpassing him even this early in the game. Yes, his joseki was old, and yes, the moves he made were a bit odd… he was strong, but his technique had its weaknesses.

And Akira was being aggressive, maybe a bit too much. Every opening he thought he saw, he attacked as fast as he could. Low below that cluster, and he got cut off. Moving to the side, Saito shifted away without any problem. Then….

 _'Hmm… He's attacking the formation on the top. Not bad, Akira, not bad at all. Did Saito expect that, though?'_  Seiji wondered, resting his chin in his fingers, glancing at Akira who was glaring at Saito for all he was worth, and then to Saito. He blinked a bit at the teen's face. Beneath the bruises, the youth was smiling faintly, completely unaffected, neither by the move nor by the glare. Tensing a bit himself, Seiji lowered his hand and stared at the teen a little harder. Was he really so unflappable?

Hand after hand they played, Akira snapping them down fiercely, Saito answering imperturbably and without any trouble.  _'No,'_  Seiji thought after a moment, leaning a little forward to see the board better, to read the moves back and ahead.  _'Despite his expression, he was affected. Akira's attack affected him. He's….'_

Another move, and another – and it was clear.  _'Saito's showing no mercy anymore.'_  Akira had no chance of winning – and after Saito decided to bring his all to the match, there was no room left for Akira on the board at all. The game lasted only for a hundred hands or so, before Akira was forced to resign, or suffer a humiliating defeat.

With narrowed eyes, Seiji stared at Saito, who looked at Akira without much of an expression beneath his bruises. "Thank you for the game," the young man only said before quietly clearing the black stones from the board, ignoring Akira's pained sobbing and the way Shindo looked between him and Akira, looking almost panicked.

"Hikaru." Saito said when the boy opened his mouth to say something. The teen shook his head silently and the boy scowled, not saying anything in the end, only standing up as Saito did, leaving behind one broken Toya Akira, and the Goban with only the white moves left on it.

Seiji considered the half cleared board for a split second, before standing up to follow Saito and his young disciple. "That was quite cruel." he pointed out, as they made their way out. He had to marvel at the height difference a bit – Saito looked older than he was, and when he had been playing it had been easy to forget that he was fifteen… but standing up he was quite a bit shorter than Seiji was. It drove home the fact that this was actually a teenager in front of him, not some Go-genius in his early twenties, like Kurata. A fifteen year old, and yet so strong.

"Yes, but he needed it," Saito shrugged while Shindo frowned at his side, looking conflicted. "And he was asking for it," Saito added, before giving Seiji a sort of pained half smile, which wasn't entirely because of the split lip. "Is there something you want, Ogata-sensei?" he asked.

"A game," Seiji said immediately. He wanted to know how he'd fare against his Go, which had so crushed Akira. Akira, as good as he was, was only twelve, and had only played Go for so long. He simply wasn't good enough to fully measure Saito's abilities. Seiji on other hand would be. He would not be forced to resign. And with Saito's old style…. "I want to play against you," Seiji continued. "Here, or somewhere else if you prefer, I don't care where."

Saito smiled at that, an odd, ironic looking smile and then looked to the side. "Not right now," he said then, shaking his head, and looked up at Seiji thoughtfully. "Next weekend, maybe, I have time then."

"Here?" Seiji asked, glancing back and towards Toya Meijin's Go-salon.

"Maybe not. I think it’s better I give Toya-kun some time to contemplate," Saito sighed and looked away. "I'll meet you in front of the Go Association on Saturday around noon. We can play there, or somewhere else."

Seiji considered it and then nodded. "I will see you then, Saito-san."

The teen gave that faint, uncomfortable smile before turning. "Come on, Hikaru." he said and with a sigh the boy followed the teen, hands crossed behind his back.

"How badly was Toya beat anyway?" Seiji could hear Shindo ask, as the two headed down the street.

"What do you think?" Saito asked.

"How would I know? I couldn't follow half of it!"

"But you could follow the other half?" Saito asked, and then they were too far for Seiji to hear the rest of it.

It made him think, though. Saito, with his obvious, granted old strength, dated but brilliant… with that boy, Shindo, who was brazen and blatant and unfamiliar with Go. Why? Hadn't Shindo said he didn't know Saito, had only met him a week ago? Seiji had more or less dismissed the boy as inconsequential from the start – just a side note in the actual narrative, but….

 _'Saito played Akira, but it's Shindo he talks to, Shindo he interacts with, Shindo he is interested in. Why?'_  Seiji asked, staring at the pair of them, as they vanished into the crowd.  _'That sort of young man, with that sort of skill…. What does he see in Shindo?'_

"Ogata-sensei?" Ishikawa's tentative voice came from behind him, and glancing backwards he saw her peeking out from the doorway. "Maybe… you should take Akira-kun home. He's… he should probably go home."

Seiji frowned a bit at that, glancing one last time in the direction Saito and Shindo had vanished. "Might as well. I think I need to talk with the Meijin anyway." he murmured, and headed back inside, wondering about Saito, about his Go, about how anyone in this modern era could even have Go like that.

Wondering what it would be like, a week from now, to try his own Go against it.

 

* * *

 

Toya Koyo expected great things from Akira, and knew he'd see most of those expectations realised. Akira had, for couple of years now, been ready for the pro-world, as far as skill went – Koyo had seen to it himself, guiding Akira as far as their skills would take him, his as a teacher, and Akira's as a student. But… as far as spirit went Akira had, for as long as he could remember, lacked something. It wasn't lack of mental strength, because Akira was a strong willed boy, it wasn't weakness, because for all he seemed sensitive Akira had tough skin. It was something else, something intangible.

"And here you announced your resignation." Koyo murmured to his son, after having the game between him and a stranger by the name of Saito replayed for him – mostly by Ogata, because Akira still couldn't quite lift his head after his defeat.

"After Saito began playing for win," Ogata trailed away, shaking his head. "Akira-kun played a good game, but he wasn't a match. Saito, whoever he is, however he has been taught, was stronger."

"Yes," Koyo murmured, folding his arms in the sleeves of his montsuki. He wouldn't have minded playing this Saito himself, to see what sort of strength really hid behind his old fashioned moves. Akira, for all his young brilliance, wasn't good enough to truly evaluate the skill of an opponent like this. But that… that wasn't what really interested Koyo in this exchange.

No. It was the fact that it had made Akira cry.

Glancing at his son, Koyo narrowed his eyes. He was not, nor had he ever been, the softest or kindest of fathers. His own father had been the same; aloof most of the time, with every kind word hard won from his lips. That did not mean that he did not feel protective of his son – how could he not, when Akira was… the way he was? For every single thing Akira had inherited from his father, he had inherited three from his mother. He might have Koyo's own talent in Go, and greater, but he had Akiko's spirit, Akiko's heart and would, no matter how old he grew, have Akiko's slim form.

For all the steel in the boy, Akira was superficially frail. How could Koyo not be protective of him, when from birth he had been so  _small_?

It made him feel rather cruel to think,  _'Good.'_  at the sight of Akira's tears. But that was precisely what he had thought when he had realised what had disturbed his son so.

Turning his eyes back to the game, Koyo sighed. Akira had always been serious about Go - for his age, he had always been good at it. At five years of age he had already been able to hold out on his own against more experienced players, and at the age of seven Koyo had to stop letting his son into tournaments, because he no longer had a match among the amateur children. Ever since then he had only grown stronger and stronger without an equal among his age group, always standing at the peak of the wave which crashed behind him, weak and useless.

And despite all the stronger players Akira had met across the Goban – himself, those in his study group, Ogata for years and years – Akira had always remained the same. He didn't see elder or professional opponents in the proper light – they were his superior, not his equal, and so he treated them thus, learned from his defeats, but didn't truly take them to heart.

Eight years and more, and Akira had never been  _burnt_  by Go; had never been truly, unceremoniously crushed by someone he thought he might have a chance against. Not before now.

 _'If I knew how to find that boy, I think I would thank him,'_  Koyo thought with some twisted amusement, but didn't let it get to his face. Yet he knew, better than Akira himself ever would, or Ogata truly understood, how much his son had needed this. This was a lesson most Go players got early on – that for all their training, they were still weak against someone, that they'd never truly be strong enough, that Go was a lifelong study and they were only at the start. They got it pounded into their heads by the hammer of a much stronger player, be it a teacher or a stranger. Ogata and every other student in Koyo's group had experienced that lesson at Koyo's hand. Koyo himself had gotten it at the hands of Kuwabara-sensei.

But Akira? Akira had refused it for years. He simply had made himself immune to it from everyone he knew by seeing them in a certain light and that was it. Koyo had more or less given up on himself being the one to give that lesson years ago – though he had put some effort into finding some opponent, anyone, whom Akira might see as an equal and then… but no. And in the end he had supposed that it would only come if Akira became a pro, and finally stopped looking at the pro's through the lenses of a student.

 _'Saito-san, hm? I wonder if he knew what he was doing,'_  Koyo wondered, though he doubted. Very few shared his view of Go – that some things needed to be broken for improvements to be made. It might be that Saito's actions had simply been coincidental, one brilliant player's answer to another's demands, and nothing more. Yet….

 _'The point where Akira threatened his claim, making a serious go at the territory in the upper middle… when Saito began to play for the kill,'_  Koyo wondered for a moment about it. Until that, the game hadn't been so ferocious – it had been thoughtful, if anything, playful, considering. Then Akira had made a serious move, and Saito had become serious in answer.  _'Saito couldn't play soft against Akira anymore. Akira was proven too good, and Saito had to cut him in half.'_

It was all there, in the Go, the personality behind the game. And Koyo had to admit, he approved every bit of it. A lesser player would've remained soft, given Akira a chance, but not this one. This player would've seen it as insult towards Akira, to give Akira anything less but the full force of his skill.

 _'I want to play against Saito-san. I want to know how strong he truly is,'_  Koyo thought and then looked up at Akira, who's eyes were now dry, but who's gaze wouldn't lift from the floor. "Akira," Koyo said. "Go to bed."

That brought forth a reaction, and with a surprised blink Akira looked up. "Father?"

"You're tired and you can't think straight. Go to bed," Koyo said and turned his eyes back to the board, and the game. "We will discuss this game tomorrow, once you're rested."

Akira looked like he would've liked to argue, but after a moment he nodded. "Alright. Good night, father," he said and stood up. "Good night, Ogata-sensei."

"Night," Ogata answered leaning back a bit and rubbing a hand over his neck. With silent steps – neither Akiko nor Koyo approved of the banging of heels in their house – the boy retreated, closing the sliding door behind him and leaving Koyo and Ogata alone. "He put up a good fight, but Saito was stronger." Ogata said.

"Yes. Akira will learn much from this, once he overcomes the shock," Koyo answered. "But this Saito-san. How do you suppose he came about developing this sort of hand?" he asked, honestly curious.

"I suppose he could've learned Go by reading old kifu. I can't say exactly who his Go is based on, but if I had to throw a wild guess… I'd say Shusaku." Ogata said, contemplating the board.

Koyo hummed, nodding in agreement. He had felt that too, when Ogata had been replaying the game – like he was watching something much older being studied, rather than a game that had taken place that very day. "No one can become this good by studying kifu, however," he said. "And it is not just the hands he played, but the way he expects the opponent to answer. Akira's move surprised him because he honestly wasn't expecting someone to think that way."

"You think so?" Ogata asked, looking thoughtful.

Koyo nodded. "He has played against opponents with a similar mindset, and similar style and somehow he's unfamiliar with modern Go. I suppose he might have learned in some sort of re-enactment club, where only old games are studied and played…."

"It sounds pretty farfetched." the younger man pointed.

"Yes. Well, however he learned doesn't matter. He plays a brilliant game," Koyo answered and frowned. "It would be something to see him play a higher-dan player, however."

Ogata glanced up at him and then, almost sheepishly except for the fact that Ogata hadn't acted anything like sheepish since he had been seventeen and Koyo had caught him with an insei in the Go Association bathrooms. "I scheduled a meeting with him for next weekend. He agreed to play against me."

"You did?" Koyo asked thoughtfully.

"I want to see his skill, too," the younger man said and nodded at the board. "And I want to know how I fare against him. The fact is, as old as that game is, as many openings as there are in those moves…" he shook his head. "I am not one hundred percent positive I am stronger."

"Yes," Koyo agreed. "Akira isn't good enough to measure this opponent's capacity," he said and began clearing the game from the Goban. "Did you decide where you will play?" he asked then.

"He said he'd meet me in front of the association, but that's it. I suppose he figured we'd play in the association cafeteria, but…."

Next Saturday… "If he agrees to it, bring him here. Akiko and Akira will be going to visit Akiko's mother that day," Koyo said thoughtfully. "And I would very much like to see that game myself."

"If he agrees, I will," Ogata nodded and folded his arms. "Though if he agrees, don't mind the way he looks."

"The way he looks?" Koyo asked, glancing at the younger man.

"He came to play Akira in bruises, and I think his wrist was at least sprained," Ogata answered with a slight frown. "He didn't seem to care, but…."

Koyo blinked, straightening his back a bit. It was rare for Go players to get into physical conflicts, professional or amateur. He wasn't sure if he had  _ever_  seen a Go player in bruises, not unless they had been in some sort of accident. "And he is fifteen?" he asked. "I don't suppose…?"

"Who knows; but he really didn't seem to care, so he either is used to it, or doesn't think it will happen again," Ogata shrugged. "It wasn't really my place to ask, so I didn't. And I got the impression that it wasn't something he was all that inclined to talk about." He considered it for a moment. "And it didn't seem to interfere with his playing."

Koyo sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes he was really glad he was not only a Go player, but also a husband and a father. Go players could have hopelessly one tracked minds at times.

 

* * *

 

Saito did not have any more bruises when Seiji met him in front of the Go Association's Tokyo office – but he did have one Shindo Hikaru with him. Seiji paused a bit at the sight of them, and didn't turn his car engine off instantly – instead he watched how Saito and Shindo spoke, Saito holding in his hand what at first looked like a book, and which the Go-professional realised was one of the sort of wallet sized magnetic Gobans he had occasionally seen at Go events, but never distained to actually buy.

 _'Saito really is teaching the boy then?'_  Seiji mused, leaning his arm onto the bottom of the window, just watching them talk for a moment. They were standing a little further from the association entrance, leaning against the wall – Saito wearing a smooth brown jacket, Shindo with a thick vest on him, looking completely alien in each other's presence. Except for the way they interacted. It wasn't a normal teacher-student relationship – they looked like they were half way into a fist fight, to be honest, and Shindo looked like he was on the brink of yelling… but something….

They looked rather like brothers, really.

Frowning a bit, Seiji wondered where  _that_  thought had come from and then shook his head. He was putting more meaning into things that he had no way of knowing – it was most likely just that Shindo was a loudmouth, and as far as he had seen Saito wasn't beyond retaliating in a rather brazen way himself, and Shindo just brought that out in Saito. With a snort, he turned the engine off, and released his seat belt, before opening the door.

As he approached the pair of them, he saw that not only had Saito's bruises not increased, but the ones he had were healing – the one on his cheek was now a cluster of mottled purple spots surrounded by yellow, rather than the vivid purple red of before. His lip also looked like it was on the way to healing and if the youth was lucky he wouldn't even have a mark.

"Ogata-sensei," the teen said, while Seiji looked curiously at the magnetic Goban.

"A game you played?" he asked curiously. What he really wanted to ask if Saito  _really_  had to bring Shindo everywhere – but that wasn't really his business and he hadn't actually asked the teen to come alone.

"Yes, a teaching game," Saito said, while Shindo eyed Seiji suspiciously. Ignoring the boy, Saito closed the Goban – which folded in on itself neatly without affecting the game on it – before handing it over to Shindo who put it into his backpack. "So," Saito said. "Are we playing here, or do you have a place in mind?"

"Toya Meijin – Akira-kun's father – graciously offered his own Goban for us to use, unless you mind?" Seiji said, eyeing the teen closely. He had been expecting a bigger reaction than a blink and the slightest narrowing of  pale green eyes, but for some reason it satisfied him to get even that much. So, the youth could be surprised, after all.

"Will Toya be there? Akira, I mean?" Shindo asked sharply.

"He is unfortunately visiting family," Seiji answered, and lifted a single eyebrow at the way Shindo relaxed a bit, wondering what was going through the brat's head. Well, it didn't matter. "So, shall we go to the Meijin's house, or would you prefer some other place?"

"It would of course be an honour to accept the Meijin's… gracious offer," Saito answered with a crooked half smile, with something odd in his eyes. Bitterness maybe? Seiji didn't get long to examine it – it was gone in an instant, as the teen turned. "Let's go then. Let's see how the other half lives."

The drive to the Toya's family house was quiet and a bit awkward – Saito didn't look at him and instead kept staring out of the window, and after a while Shindo pulled out the magnetic Goban and went back to studying the game, probably in the lack of something better to do. Not being all that social, Seiji himself said nothing either, though he did glance at Saito every now and then, wondering.

In the end, they made it to the Toya's traditional home without a hitch, and after Seiji had parked Saito exited the car without pause, eyeing the front of the house with a sort of curious irritation Seiji couldn't even begin to analyse. In the end, he didn't much need to, because at that point Toya Meijin opened the door, and what had been awkward before turned borderline unbearable.

"I really hope we didn't come all the way here just to stand around in the drive way." Shindo said, breaking the silence and drawing Toya Koyo's attention to himself – and it seemed it wasn't quite so easy to crack wiseass remarks when it was him on the receiving end of that stare.

"You must be Saito-san and Shindo-kun," Toya Meijin said finally, while Seiji hid the smirk he couldn't help spreading to his lips. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," Saito said, he too looking just a tad bit uncomfortable. He didn't hesitate though – and when Shindo would've lingered in the back, the teen just reached back and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, practically ushering him forward.

"I saw your game against Akira," Toya said, while they took off their shoes and left their outer garments in the hall. "It was… interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing your strength first hand."

"Ogata-sensei has got dibs, I'm afraid," Saito said without taking the bait, and just looked around curiously. "I suppose you’ve got a Goban here somewhere?"

"This way," the Meijin answered, and led the three of them into the study room, which was spartan except for the Goban which sat in the middle of the room, and the seat cushions piled in the corner. While Saito eyed the tall Kaya board with a thoughtful expression, Seiji picked up cushions for all of them. Shindo accepted his with a sort of embarrassed wince, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but Saito stepped forward without hesitation, sitting in front of the Goban smoothly.

 _'Seiza,'_  Seiji observed thoughtfully, while taking his seat on the other side.  _'And he sits in it easily. This is not an opponent unused to serious gaming.'_  Which of course he had known before, but the easy seiza cinched it.  _'Saito must have played seriously, somehow. Maybe not as a professional, but despite everything his mannerisms aren't those of an amateur.'_

Maybe the boy had been an insei once? Seiji would need to check the records for the name Saito.

"Is this it?" Shindo asked under his breath, while sitting beside Saito with his legs crossed. "No small talk, nothing."

Saito grinned. "We're Go-players, brat. Just walking here is basically foreplay," he said, making the Meijin blink with surprise and Seiji smother a snort of amusement. Saito didn't seem to notice. "Now, shut up," he said, turning to the board. "And pay attention."

"Yeah, yeah." Shindo said, and then fell silent while Saito directed his eyes at Seiji.

"Nigiri?" he asked, his pale eyes sharp and almost glowing – and if Seiji had ever had any intention of offering this teen a handicap of any sort it evaporated right there. With a frown, Seiji nodded, and they checked the stones and then played the nigiri. Seiji ended up with the black stones and they both agreed to five and half moku komi. With that decided, Saito and Seiji bowed their heads, and the ceremonious greeting of "please give me your guidance" was exchanged.

Then, with the silent  Toya Meijin watching from one side, and the ignorant Shindo Hikaru from the other side, the game began.

 _'I can't underestimate this opponent, not after he so soundly beat Akira. Saito isn't an idiot either, and he knows what he is up against – and yet, he wanted an even game,'_  Seiji thought while contemplating the first hand – the hand he had been contemplating for a while now, ever since Saito had agreed to meet with him. How would he play against a style as old, and as masterful as Saito's?  _'But I_   _also want_   _to test him, damn it. I want to see how he'd react to certain situations. His hand is so… interesting, I want to learn it better.'_

It had been a long time since he had met such an interesting opponent. If only Saito would've been kind enough to hand over some of his kifu to study, and Seiji could've quenched his curiosity about his reactions in that way. But no, this wasn't the time for that, and he couldn't be distracted. He needed to concentrate and play as he always played. To win.

He played the first hand on the lower left star, and then waited to see if Saito would play as quickly and fluently as he had against Akira – without pausing much. Saito didn't. He eyed the Goban calmly for a long while, eyes flicking from point to point until a minute, and then another had passed.

 _'This is a different game to him than the one against Akira. He knows he has to take this seriously from the start,'_  Seiji thought with an absurd burst of pride. Absurd, because he was playing a  _fifteen_  year old, and being happy about being taken seriously. And yet….

Finally Saito played his hand – lower right komoku, and then the game was on its way. Hand by hand it took shape and Seiji privately delighted in every move. Go was always a pleasure, but this, this was something else – this was new, and old, and unknown all at once. This was Go he didn't know, Go the likes of which he hadn't played.

This was the Go he had been looking for, wishing for.

 _'He is good, but there are flaws,'_  he thought after the first twenty hands had been played and he could more or less see where they'd start their fight. ' _Nothing fatal, nothing overwhelming, but…'_  he had gotten that impression in Akira's game too, that there was something overlooked on Saito's side. A lot, in fact. It wasn't really concrete, nothing as simple as placing one move to change the turn of the tide, but there was  _something_  there. Not a weakness, but… an oversight.

 _'This isn't just the Go of someone who prefers the old styles._   _It's really like he doesn't know modern Go at all,'_  Seiji thought and looked up at his young opponent. He smothered the urge to snort.  _'It's almost like he's a time traveller.'_

But as amusing as it was, what he was seeing was real. And for all the things Saito lacked, he gained in sheer brilliance and power. Ten more hands, and their first fight began to take place in the upper left corner, spreading hand by hand to the middle. It was somehow sly but sharp all the while, the way Saito spread his influence, stone by stone – like a dance, but with blades. And the way he moved to counteract Seiji's attempts to lessen his influence and invade the secured territory… some of the moves were absolutely novel.

 _'But this is far from over,'_  Seiji thought, narrowing his eyes. The upper left wasn't lost to him, not by far, and his influence in the middle was growing.  _'If I do that… and this…'_  he paused for a moment, whirling one black stone in his fingers, thinking. Forty moves, and the middle would be his entirely, unless Saito somehow managed to see through it.  _'Let's see what he'll do, shall we?'_  he thought and started to spread his influence.

At first Saito ignored him, securing the top with a surprisingly ingenious move, but then they were clashing swords for the middle. Stone by stone, the shapes began to form – Seiji was winning, just a little ahead, but each piece was hard won, and for what he won, he also lost, as Saito's influence on the side grew, and he connected the upper parts to the side, spreading his influence along the boarders while Seiji's were secure in the middle.

 _'But I'm ahead,'_  Seiji thought and then set out to finish.  _'I want the right side,'_  he thought grimly, and made to lay claim – Saito was there that instant, first decreasing his influence and then trying to cut.  _'Nope, try again,'_  Seiji thought viciously, connecting and stopping his approach… but Saito not only did just that, but succeeded.  _'What the…?'_

The ninth-dan had to pause to look over the board. With one stone, Saito had somehow turned the tide on the right side. Seiji had killed the earlier stones that had tried to cut, but somehow… Saito had killed the two stones just above them.  _'Those stones up there, he played them almost forty hands ago – did he realise I'd take the fight to the right side? Did he know he'd need to kill – how would he…'_  he stopped his train of thought and looked up and at Saito's face.

Saito looked enthralled, his eyes a little wide, softly shining as he stared at the game. He didn't look excited, or worried, or triumphant – he looked spellbound. Seiji eyed him with incomprehension for a long while and then looked down again.

 _'Oh,'_  he thought faintly, and leaned back a bit, looking at the whole board. They were still mid game, but… it had been a long, long time since he had seen his game looking like this.  _'It's almost beautiful,'_  he thought with wonder. When was the last time he had played like this? Against whom? Had it even happened?

Swallowing and giving Saito's enchanted face another glance, Seiji picked up a stone. He wanted to see the end of the game, he wanted to see what the board would look like once they were done – he wanted to see the whole picture. He took the fight back to the right side, and the game continued.

The fight continued ferocious and wild and oddly refreshing all throughout, from mid game to yose until there were no more moves to be played. With a slow inhale, Seiji leaned back, wondering how long they had played – it felt like it hadn't been that long, which meant it probably had been at least over an hour – but he really didn't care at that point.  _'Did I win?'_

" _Oh_ , that was so close," Saito said, snapping his fingers in dismay just a few seconds before Seiji was finished counting the territory. "I lost by half a moku." the youth said, turning to Shindo who was yawning.

"Yay?" the boy asked, rubbing at his eyes.

Seiji released a breath. He had won. He had… won? He considered that thought for a moment, eyeing the board and then his opponent. Normally winning shouldn't have been in question. The youth wasn't a professional player, and he was only fifteen. The game ought to have been decided more or less beforehand.  _'Half a moku, in a serious game against a no-name amateur,'_  Seiji thought.  _'Me, a ninth-dan professional only barely won against this… this boy.'_

"Saito-kun," Toya Meijin spoke, his arms folded into the sleeves of his haori, frowning slightly. "How long have you been playing?"

The youth paused at that and turned to face the Meijin. "Does it matter?" he asked blankly, seeming to take the title holder by surprise. "Does it really matter, though?" Saito asked. "How long I've been playing, how old I am, who taught me, where I learned – what does it matter?" he shook his head and pointed at the board. "It's all there. I could be from Mars and have learned under Shusaku himself, and that would still be all anyone needed to know."

Seiji and the Meijin shared a look at that, Seiji not entirely sure if he ought to laugh or scold the boy. The Meijin decided it, shaking his head and chuckling.

"Very well, keep your secrets, Saito-kun," the man said. "That was a magnificent game, however. I'm glad I got the chance to see it. Tell me – do you intend to become a pro?" he asked and looked at the youth pointedly. "This matters." he added.

"I guess it does," the youth agreed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know yet, there are things I need to do and I'm not sure if I have the time for the pro-exam yet," he answered and stood up with a stretch. "That game lasted longer than I thought and I'd like something to eat now, so I think Hikaru and I will be going."

"You do not wish to discuss the game?" Seiji asked a little disappointedly.

"Too hungry, sorry," Saito shrugged.

"Hear, hear – and can we get a lift?" Shindo asked plaintively, looking from Saito to Seiji hopefully. "I don't even know where we are!"

"Yes, I guess it's the least I can do," Seiji said and stood up as well, checking his watch as he did. It was almost three – so, longer than an hour. Not bad, for a non-professional game. "Just tell me the address and I'll take you."

"Just take us back to the Go Association, we can make it from there," Saito answered and smiled almost dreamily. "And there is an  _excellent_  ramen place nearby."

"There is? Awesome!" Shindo said and looked at Seiji. "Can we go now?"

Seiji scoffed at the boy's rudeness before turning to the Meijin, who remained seated by the Goban. "Toya-sensei?" he asked.

The older man glanced up and then back at the game before looking at Saito. "Yes, of course. Before you go however, could I have a word with you alone, Saito-kun?"

"Alone?" the youth asked, pausing slightly and running a hand over his shoulder length black hair. "Sure, why not," he said somewhat confusedly and glanced at Hikaru, making a motion with his hand. "Shoo, brat."

"Rude." Shindo answered with a frown, but seemed more glad than anything to head out of the room, stretching his arms as he went. Seiji hesitated a bit more, but at the thoughtful look on his teacher's face, he bowed his head and said his goodbyes before going to put his shoes on.

"That is an interesting teacher you have, Shindo." he said to the boy, who already had his sneakers on and was pulling the vest over his shoulders.

"He's weird, is what he is." the boy answered and sighed, making Seiji look at him more closely. It wasn't the look of someone annoyed or disinterested on his face – it was rather more forlorn. Envious maybe.

"Why is he teaching you?" the ninth-dan asked before he could stop himself. It had been bothering him since that game at the Go-salon. Saito should've been making for the pros, he should've been concentrating on conquering the world – he should've been associating himself with people like Akira. Why  _Shindo_ , who obviously hadn't known the first thing about Go a month ago.

"Hell if I know," the boy answered and shrugged. "Why are you asking?" he answered back.

"Because I'm one of the best players in Japan – and I nearly lost." Seiji answered honestly.

Shindo snorted and pulled up the zipper of his vest, heading out without an answer and leaving the pro-player frowning after him. Seiji scowled before taking his own jacket and following, intending to have a cigarette before getting into his car.

Whatever Saito and Toya Koyo talked about, it took about ten minutes before the young genius joined them outside, with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Let's get going." was all he said, however, heading for the car without further comment, ushering Shindo inside as he did.

Seiji drove them back to the association silently, thinking all the while. "So," he said once they were there, turning to look at the elder one of his two passengers. "When will we have a rematch?"

Saito smiled, unbuckling the seat belt and opening the door. "Sorry, Ogata-sensei," he said as he stood up. "But Toya-sensei has dibs this time."


	3. Chapter 3

 Hikaru had been doing some serious thinking. He knew that much, though if anyone had asked him _what_ he had been thinking, he wouldn't have been able to say precisely. For days his thoughts had bounced around, from Go to Sai to his older self – whom, after hearing so many people refer to him as Saito, he had also started to think as Saito despite how weird that was – and from there back to Go and Toya Akira and the professionals, back to Saito, to Sai, to Go….

And it all pissed him off.

First he was pissed off because he didn't really _get_ any of it. Sai and Saito and their obsession with Go just made him confused and irritated in the beginning, and when Toya Akira and the rest had been thrown in? It had just confused him more which in the end had pissed him off more. Since _when_ had Go been the reason people ran around, shouting and demanding rematches? That sounded more like something that happened in the movies. And Saito, who seriously was a _nobody_ in this time, becoming the centre of attention of two men, whom Hikaru now knew were famous and well known and probably rich? Just because of Go?

And then, bit by bit, he started to get it. Every night Sai, who stayed with him in the evenings and with Saito in the mornings, taught him more and more Go, and most days he met Saito after school was over and then it was two against Hikaru and… he was starting to get it. First just Go and yeah, it was interesting, in a sort of infuriating way that wouldn't let you go once you got a little into it – because once Hikaru started to get _why_ he kept losing all his games against Saito and Sai… he had never really felt anything like that. Frustration, annoyance, irritation, a bit of shame, embarrassment, and the overwhelming urge to beat the crap out of both of them.

And then, as he watched and was forced to follow and learn and eventually understand, he really began to see. Sai was amazing. And Saito was amazing for being able to follow him.

 _'Really, really pisses me off,'_ Hikaru thought, kicking a stone and then stopping to look around the school yard. Sai was with Saito – he usually was when Hikaru had school – and Saito was god only knew where, so there was no one around to hear his thoughts. Which was good, because there was nothing more annoying than having a pair of mind readers around – though of course, they'd be meeting in an hour or so at an internet café because Saito had something to show him and Sai. Some new thing about Go, no doubt.

He couldn't begrudge either Sai or Saito for their skills – especially not Saito, who kept reminding him that, back when it had been his turn, he had been wasting time and had only known how to solve the really basic problems, not to mention about actually playing. Sai on other hand had been playing for decades in two different time periods and had existed in a _Goban_ even when he wasn't out in the world, so he couldn't really be anything but amazing. But each day Hikaru couldn't help but feel the difference in skill more and more.

And though Saito was technically him, and Sai was sort of both of theirs, and though both of them did everything and more in their power to drag him tooth and nail into their world, it left Hikaru feeling… well, left out, somehow.

Scowling at the street, Hikaru paused, shoving his hands into his pockets. _'The likes of Toya Akira would never care for_ _me._ _'_ he thought bitterly. And what the hell did that mean anyway – since when had he given a damn? He thought about it for a moment and then sighed. Since Sai and Saito made Toya cry and somehow it had seemed amazing. Since Ogata-sensei had demanded a game, and Hikaru had seen it affect both Ogata and Saito – not to mention about Sai, who had been between ecstatic and sulking for days afterwards.

No one looked at him like that, or at his games. Which was pretty obvious, considering he had been playing only for a month or so and was nowhere near even Saito's level, but….

 _'Really pisses me off,'_ Hikaru thought again, and continued on his way. He wanted to get stronger in Go. He wanted to learn more. He wanted…. _'Damn it, I want to be like they are,'_ he thought with a sigh and ran a hand through his bleached hair. There were times when he almost hated Saito, and Sai could annoy the living daylights out of him, but still… he couldn't help but be in awe of them too. The Go, the atmosphere around them, the way they reacted to the challenges thrown at them – even if Saito was _him_ , he was so adjusted to all of that! So… cool with it. Hikaru wanted to be that way too.

He wasn't sure what he would've done, knowing Saito and Sai, if they hadn't been even more intent on getting him there than he himself was. Which at times pissed him off more than the rest put together. Overall, the whole situation was stupid and annoying and he hated Saito and Sai for messing up his life, and damn it, he was grateful that they had. Which of course pissed him off all the more.

 _'I wonder if I could bring the wallet Goban to school.'_ he wondered, as he headed home.

He had time to glance over his homework and get bite to eat before it was time for him to head to the internet cafe. As he was making his way out, his mother called to ask him where he was going, saying, "You're never home anymore." and sounding more confused about it than worried.

"I'm hanging out with a… friend," Hikaru said a bit lamely. Saito wasn't really and neither was Sai – _friend_ was a bit too weak to cover what they were. Another him from the future, and a spirit from a thousand years ago bound to them both? Yeah. They weren't _friends_. They were something – a necessity, somehow – but not friends. "He's teaching me Go." he added, when his mother just eyed him worriedly.

"Go?" she asked confusedly, resting her hand at her cheek the way she did when something Hikaru did didn't make sense to her. "Did grandpa get you hooked on that thing too?"

"Sort of maybe," Hikaru sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, my friend's going to show me something about Go on the internet, or something – and I got to go."

"Well. So as long you're home on time. Maybe you should bring your friend around sometime – you father has a computer, you know, and we do have an internet connection." she answered thoughtfully, the ruse pretty obvious. Every time Hikaru as much as hinted of having met someone, anyone, she suggested that he and his new friend or whatever could maybe hang out at home – so that she could get a glimpse of them.

"I'll… think about it," Hikaru answered awkwardly, though he knew he wouldn't say a word about it to Saito. He wasn't _that_ stupid or unfeeling, and though he preferred not to think about it too much, he knew Saito too, to a point. Bringing Saito here, to the home that wasn't his anymore, in front of parents who had no idea who he was? Yeah, Hikaru wouldn't be the one to put his older self through _that_ meeting.

"I'm going now," he said instead, headed out as quickly as he could, pushing that thought out of his head. Soon he was out and running towards the train station with every intention of making it there in time and forgetting all about his mother's well-wishing suggestion.

 _'Have to admit one thing, though,'_ he mused to himself as he ran. _'That's one thing about Saito I wouldn't want to share.'_

Which begged the question of how Saito was managing anyway. He was, somehow – he even had new clothing now and didn't look like he was sleeping on the streets anymore. So he was probably  managing, but how? His older self was insufferably secretive about that, just shrugging his shoulders and changing the subject every time Hikaru asked – making him wonder if he was doing something illegal like squatting and committing burglaries or something. Sai probably knew, but he wasn't telling either, just shook his head and hid his face behind that stupid fan.

 _'Thinking they're being so adult. Just because Saito's a couple of years older than me doesn't mean that he’s actually an adult. He's just an older version of a brat,'_ Hikaru thought and then paused, realising he had just called himself a brat. _'Damn it, that guy pisses me off at times.'_ he thought grimly, happily blaming the lapse on his older self. Which was perfectly justified anyway.

Eventually, after a short ride and checking out some dozen store fronts, Hikaru found the net café his older self had mentioned. He took a moment to peer inside through the windows to see if Saito and Sai were there yet, and only after he caught a glimpse of the familiar tall hat did he go inside, happily willing to leave the task of paying to Saito.

"Good day, Hikaru-kun!" Sai greeted him happily, and Hikaru flashed him a grin and then frowned at Saito as his older self turned to face him.

"There you are. Pull up a chair, I've got something cool to show you," Saito said, ignoring the scowl, and turned back to the computer. With a sigh, Hikaru did as asked, knowing it wasn't worth his while to try and start up a fight – Saito knew him too well and was too good at ignoring him every time he tried.

"Please tell me it's something more interesting than records of games – because I already have kifu and stuff. And ugh, you stink," Hikaru said with a grimace bringing the chair closer and looking at the computer screen. He wasn't too into computers, though he had played some games on his father's desktop – that computer though wasn't like this one. His dad's computer was all in pieces, with a screen and huge box covered by other boxes on the floor and half a million wires on the floor – this one was just a screen with a keyboard. "Did you start smoking or something?" he asked, waving a hand below his nose.

"Nope and nope, and never mind that," Saito answered, and wrote something in the url line. WorldIgoNet. "This is NetGo," he said, as a web page opened, proclaiming just that. "It's an international website with a program that lets you play against other people," he explained, logging in as _sai_ , and then opening a screen which showed a list of names, followed by country codes, levels and number of games played. "I just made an account for Sai."

 _'For Sai? Why?'_ Hikaru asked, glancing at the ghost.

"Hikaru-san thinks that this will help me prepare myself for the game against Toya Koyo," the spirit answered thoughtfully. "More so than playing in a Go-salon or against Hikaru-san will."

 _'In my time, Sai grew really strong by playing NetGo. Probably had to do more with seeing a lot of types of playing than actually playing itself – the people on NetGo aren't exactly pro-level strength most of the time, though there are few really strong ones too. Anyway, it ought to work this time around too,'_ Saito answered with a shrug. "I thought you could use it too, though," he added, looking at Hikaru. "There are a lot of different levels of players in NetGo and it'll be good practice. Also, the games tend to be quicker and you are pretty much always assured of finding an opponent."

"Hmm… well, maybe," Hikaru murmured, looking at the screen thoughtfully. "Okay, how does this thing work, then?" he asked, and Saito quickly began showing and explaining. Together they made an account for Hikaru under the nick of _Fifth_ because Hikaru really didn't want to go by his own name. As Hikaru figured out the controls, Saito explained how he and his Sai had originally played NetGo because it had been the easiest way for Sai to play without making it seem that it was Saito playing.

"In hindsight, the whole thing was a bit like a bad soap opera, especially when we stopped," Saito mused to himself and glanced around. "I'm going to pay to get some time on another computer," he said then. "Call me if you need some help."

"Yeah, yeah." Hikaru answered, concentrating on figuring out how to work the stupid mouse – it didn't have any buttons!

He ended up spending some twenty minutes on his first game – and losing it too, to boot. While he scowled at the screen, behind him Sai was calling out the moves to Saito, who placed them with efficient clicks without pause, just as used to this as he was used to placing down actual stones precisely where Sai pointed them.

Looking back at them, Hikaru frowned slightly. What bothered him most about Saito was the unspoken _thing_ between him and Sai. It was plain as day that it was there, at least on Saito's end – probably had a lot to do with the reason why Saito was back in time anyway. Most of the time it seemed like Sai was about as baffled by it as Hikaru was, but Hikaru would've had to be blind not to see how the two of them were leaning more towards each other than towards him.

And of course, Saito knew Sai from head to toe the way Hikaru, even after a month or so, didn't. Saito knew how to explain the modern world just the way that would make Sai understand it, he knew how to keep Sai interested and entertained, he knew what Sai liked and what he didn't and made sure Sai had as much as he liked of the first. Mostly Hikaru was glad of it – it saved him the trouble after all. But….

Turning back to the computer, the boy scowled and then started another game. He didn't know what the _but_ was, but there was one. And, of course, it pissed him off.

 _'Well, whatever,'_ he thought and eyed the nick of his opponent. _'_ Zelda _, huh. Like from Legend of Zelda? Wait, Wasn't Zelda a_ girl?' He considered that for a moment, while _Zelda_ made the first move. Tilting his head a bit, Hikaru placed his own stone and then watched as the game began to take shape, each of them spreading their influence with _zelda_ having most of the left side while Hikaru had the lower part of the board. _'Okay, I guess,'_ Hikaru thought, and played silently for a while until the first fight started for the corner, with _zelda_ cutting into his stones and Hikaru quickly moving to defend.

 _'She's not bad,'_ Hikaru admitted begrudgingly. Not just bad, _zelda_ was actually pretty good. Maybe not as good as Saito and nowhere near the instant domination Sai tended to have, but….  _'Damn it, I wanted to make that connection. Okay, let's see about this…'_ he thought and shifted the fight a bit, trying to enforce his influence on the lower middle. _Zelda_ followed him, connecting to her previous stones and strengthening her own influence, but Hikaru thought he had the lead on the middle – for now. Unless _zelda_ decided to try and cut into enemy territory and Hikaru doubted she would, this early in the game and the corner still undecided….

Click by click they played and as the game progressed Hikaru both relaxed and grew tense at once. He played a lot these days – against Sai mostly, but also against Saito occasionally. It had gotten to the point where he considered a day with only three games to be pretty light as far as Go went. But this was different somehow. Saito always butchered him on the board without mercy and even when Sai was playing Shidou-Go, it was plainly obvious who had the board.

 _Zelda_ wasn't as strong as them. She was hella strong, though, and by the forty fourth move Hikaru was scowling at the screen, a little uncertain of his ground. _Zelda_ had a better grasp of the territory, and the moves in the beginning, which Hikaru had thought a bit too daring were now in perfect places. _'Okay, how far ahead does this girl read?'_ he wondered. Probably not as far as Saito, who had the freakish ability to predict moves thirty and forty moves away and more, but….

"Damn it," Hikaru murmured, but kept on playing, just to see what _Z_ _elda_ would do. _Zelda_ would, it turned out, dominate the board. It wasn't the same sort of easy domination Sai had, which brooked no arguments and felt no overthrow attempts – nor was it the sneaky way Saito would come from behind and _bam_ , suddenly the territory Hikaru thought he had was over run. _Zelda_ 's methods were different, and so was her Go – and in the end, so was the way she eventually beat Hikaru, killing a cluster of white stones and with steady determination taking hold of the corner, and thus most of the territory.

Folding his arms, Hikaru eyed the board. He hadn't made any huge mistakes – okay, so, he had clicked the wrong spot the couple of times, but that didn't really affect the overall game. Zelda was simply stronger than him, but… yeah, not as strong as Saito. _'Weird that I can tell.'_ Hikaru mused, still reading the finished game.

There was a mechanical sort of little melody, and a window popped up on top of the NetGo one. _"Are you Japanese?"_ it read in katakana.

"Uh," Hikaru answered out loud and glanced over his shoulder at Saito and Sai who were still playing. "Oi, how do you reply to people when they're trying to talk to you?"

"Click the white box below what they said and write," Saito answered, waving a hand at him without looking backwards.

"Okay," Hikaru answered and then made the attempt. He had used computers before, but never all that well or often, so it took him rather longer than he would've liked to write the simple message of; _"Yeah, I am,"_ and send it.

 _"Do you want to discuss the game?"_ _Z_ _elda_ asked.

Hikaru considered that for a moment and then wrote slowly, _"Yeah. I'm a bit slow though, first time on computer,"_ he wrote and then, _"You're strong. Not as good as my teachers, but strong."_

 _"Thanks. I'm insei. Anyway, your move at 17-4 and the one after in 18-5…"_ _Zelda_ started, pointing out that Hikaru's connection would've been better if he had gone one over from 18-5 and that he ought to have protected the cluster from the side rather than leave it open. Fascinated and a little surprised, Hikaru read on. He and Saito and Sai discussed games all the time, of course, but those discussions tended to piss him off more than help him because it was always Saito and Sai talking _at_ him and pointing things out.

 _"What about that connection at 15-5?"_ Hikaru wrote slowly. He had thought it had been a pretty good move, but….

 _"I would've gone one below it, rather than leave the stone out in open like that, but it wasn't bad,"_ _Z_ _elda_ wrote back. _"Or if I went 15-5 I would've tried making a connection a little below it, to make it stronger and not leave it hanging…"_ and so they talked, the chatting in the end taking more time than the actual game had. And as they talked – or wrote back and forth to each other, Hikaru re-read the game with growing comprehension and thoughtfulness. He hadn't thought enough, that much was obvious – sometimes he just put the stones down where they'd go, and not given it much consideration. Zelda though obviously thought out her every move, the way Saito and Sai did, even if not on that scale. Every move, it's influence, it's connection, and how it would affect the moves to come, connections to be made, clusters to create.

 _"Okay, I think I got it now,"_ Hikaru wrote. _"Wanna play another one?"_

 _"Yeah, sure."_ _Zelda_ answered and they closed the previous game and opened another one. This time – Hikaru spent a little longer thinking about the moves and planning ahead, not letting his eyes settle on anything the way they usually did but trying to look at the board as whole. He was a little slower playing, maybe, but at least this time the stones went just where he wanted them to, and he was pretty sure he knew what was going on with the game.

It was a much better game than the previous one, and though Hikaru eventually lost, it didn't feel like as big of a loss as last time. The game felt different – and looked different. It had a… better shape, somehow, looking less like a random mass of black and white dots, some of which made sense and others didn't, and more like, like… Hikaru leaned back, trying to figure out what it looked like.

 _'A star map,'_ he realised, while the chat window popped up again. _'It looks like a star map. Huh. I created a heaven.'_ he thought and grinned.

 _"That was much better!"_ _Zelda_ congratulated him. _"That connection in the upper middle was a little weak and I wouldn't have done that thing on the left middle, but what you did in the corner was pretty good. What made you think…_ " and the discussion was on the way. As they chatted back and forth, Hikaru grew a little faster with his typing, still taking much longer between comments than _Zelda_ , but at least he got his message across.

He and _Zelda_ were talking about the middle and how many stones Hikaru had wasted there, trying to secure a territory he ought to have known was a lost case, when Saito came to stand behind him, bringing with him again that waft of tobacco that seemed to hang about him.

"Haa, _Zelda_?" Saito murmured, leaning down to look. "How long have you been talking with him?"

"I don't know – we played a couple of games and… wait, him?" Hikaru asked, looking up.

"Yeah, I know whose nick that is. Yoshitaka Waya – he was an insei the same time I was, though he had been one for longer than that," Saito said, leaning forward and dragging the chat window from top of the game to see it. "Hm. Not bad pipsqueak."

"Shut up," Hikaru answered, frowning. So, _Zelda_ was a guy after all. Why such a girly name though? Well, it didn't matter. The game had still been good and Hikaru had enjoyed the chat. Though for some reason, the fact that Saito knew _Zelda_ annoyed him. Was there anything about Go Saito didn't know? Being always the last to figure these things out was really irritating.

"So, what do you think? About NetGo?" Saito asked, leaning his elbows on the backrest of Hikaru's chair, while Sai too peered down at Hikaru's game. "Gonna try playing it?"

Hikaru really wanted to say he wouldn't, just to be contrary, but… "Yeah it was fun," he admitted, and then paused to think about that statement. It had been fun. Not the way playing against Saito and Sai could be, which while always taxing and irritating and head-ache-inducingly difficult to keep up usually resolved into him and Saito fighting while Sai tried to get them to play another game – which was sort of fun. The game against Zelda, though… it had been fun as a _game_ , while Hikaru was still _playing_ it. That didn't really happen against Saito and Sai, mostly because the difference in skill.

"I think I'll try playing again," Hikaru said, while slowly typing, _"Sorry, I got to go. Good game. Play you again sometime?"_ to which _Zelda_ answered, _"Yeah. I'm online most evenings, so see you sometime."_ before they closed the game window. "I wonder if dad's computer can run this thing?" he asked then, eyeing the NetGo front page.

"Probably – it doesn't take that much out of the computer really, the program's pretty simple," Saito answered. "I never did try though because I didn't want mom hanging over my shoulder while Sai was playing, it would've been pretty awkward if she’d seen…."

"Yeah, I bet," Hikaru answered and then looked up at Sai and Saito. "So, now what? Got any other plans?"

"Not right now, just more of the same really," Saito answered with a shrug. "At least for a while, until Sai gets used to modern techniques."

"And then we'll play Toya Koyo," Sai murmured with a flare of determined fire in his eyes. "And perhaps Ogata-san too, I would very much like a rematch." This time the flare was definitely there, and it was bright.

"Uh-huh," Hikaru answered. "When are you going to play against him anyway?" he asked, thinking back to the visit to the Toyas' house.

"We didn't set a date. Probably in a week or two, but there's no real hurry." Saito answered and then ducked to the side as Sai turned on him.

"No real hurry? Of course there is hurry – I want to play that man! And soon! He's the closest to hand of god, isn't he? I want to play him!" the spirit wailed.

 _'Yeah, yeah, but first we need to make sure you're not going to lose outright,'_ Saito answered, covering the ear closest to Sai with a palm and grinning as Sai yelled at him in objection, saying that he wouldn't lose and that they couldn’t know before they played and besides, Hikaru-san was being mean. _'Well, you lost to Ogata, didn't you?'_ Saito asked, and visibly braced himself for another outburst. He almost looked  like he was enjoying it.

Hikaru stared at the two of them and shook his head. Sometimes he couldn't understand them at all – especially Saito. First the guy went out his way to make sure Sai had nothing to complain about. And then he pretty much provoked all sort of complaints himself. The hell.

"You know what, I am not even going to try understanding you," he said out loud and closed the NetGo page. "I'm hungry; buy me ramen." he demanded.

"Fine," Saito said, almost leering at Sai who was having a very five-year-old sulk. "But I get to choose the place."

"What's the point in making a point of that when we like exactly the same things?" Hikaru asked, as he followed his elder self out.

"Well, we don't. Not exactly. I got really sick of miso ramen way back when," Saito answered with a shrug. "So unlike you I don't want to go to a place which specialises in that." He pushed his hands into his pockets and looked at Hikaru. _'Besides, we're not the same. Not anymore.'_

"We aren't?" Hikaru asked out loud, frowning.

 _'You're already different from the way I was when I was your age,'_ Saito shrugged. _'And I'm doing things you'll probably never bother with. So we're different and getting more different each day. Which reminds me, isn't it time for_ _Haze_ _School_ _'s festival right about now?'_ He asked thoughtfully.

"The festival's tomorrow," Hikaru said. He was been looking forward to it too, a bit – just because he really wanted the chance to talk to someone normal about Go and stuff. "You went too?" he asked.

"Yeah," Saito agreed. _'I was supposed to go with Akari but she sort of ditched me for her friends,'_ he thought and shrugged. _'Things probably won't go for you the way they went for me – probably for the better, that. I caused a bit of scene, really.'_

 _'Why doesn't that surprise me?'_ Hikaru asked with a shake of his head.

 

* * *

 

The Shogi club was having, as always, a good reception. Tetsuo watched over his club mates luring in potential new members – and a lot of parents who were interested in Shogi – and nodded with satisfaction. Haze's Shogi club wasn't as big as some of the clubs from the really high and mighty junior highs – but they had won enough awards and had enough experience to keep them going and make them matter.

 _'Unlike the poor old Go club,'_ he thought, throwing a glance towards Tsutsui's lonely table and snickering slightly to himself. The only people in the festival showing any interest for Tsutsui's little set up were old men, and everyone else avoided the table like the plague. Well, you couldn't say that Tsutsui wasn't trying – he’d been trying since the first year. Posters, campaigns, telling people how wonderful Go was, etcetera. Though thank god the geek hadn't been holding any meetings by himself because that would've been just pathetic and _painful_ to watch. But… well, at least Tsutsui had perseverance.

 _'Not that it'll do any good for him.'_ Tetsuo thought and went back to observing his club. All of them wore traditional kimonos and hakamas and haoris and though they had a table for displaying books and snacks and whatnot, the main exhibit was the mat with folding screens at each side and a traditional tea set for aesthetics – and of course, a tall legged Shogi-ban sitting in the middle with komadai at each side of it and cushions in front, just waiting for a player. And of course, beyond the Shogi-ban, Akemi – their prettiest member – was sitting in full kimono with fake cherry flowers in her hair and everything.

And another potential new member had been lured in by the scene, a boy who was happily taking a seat across from her.

Tsutsui might have perseverance, but Tetsuo had marketing. After a while of watching how Akemi – who wasn't just pretty but a damn good actor too – lured the poor sucker in with offers of games and tournaments and of course the exclusive chance of seeing her every day in school, Tetsuo nodded with satisfaction. He didn't even need to do anything as the captain of the club, not with club members like these. With a slight grin, he turned to look towards Tsutsui's table again, expecting to find him surrounded by old men again – or maybe completely alone, like he was most of the time.

Instead he found a kid with bleached bangs sitting across from Tsutsui, and by the looks of it they were playing. Either that or Tsutsui was still making people solve Tsume-Go's for prizes. _'Hoo, someone's actually interested in Go? What a joke,'_ Tetsuo thought with a snort, folding his arms and watching. Tsutsui and the kid were talking, while around them some people watched the game curiously. Tsutsui looked excited. _'Is that kid actually thinking of joining such a lame-ass club?'_ Tetsuo snorted and then frowned as the kid placed down a stone and leaned back, leaving Tsutsui frowning at the board.

 _'I can't believe it,'_ Tetsuo thought finally and then set out towards the Go-club's table. He ought to set the kid to rights, just for the sake of the poor bastard's social life. No one in Haze played Go but Tsutsui, and look where that had gotten Tsutsui – almost through the first year already and not a single friend.

As he approached the table, he couldn't help but take a look at the board. _'Tch,'_ he thought at first and then frowned, as he found the stone the kid had played last. _'Hm… okay, not bad,'_ he admitted. Not that it was all that great an accomplishment to be on par with _Tsutsui_ , but at least it seemed like the kid could play the game. But still.

"I can't believe what I am seeing," he said with a snort, making the kid and Tsutsui both look up. "You're honestly playing Go? Tsutsui, what, did you pay the brat to show some interest?"

"Kaga." Tsutsui answered with a grimace.

"Listen, kid," Tetsuo said, turning to the brat while digging out his pack of cigarettes. "You're really better off without this stuff. I mean, capturing territories with stones, really? At least Shogi has pieces that move," he snorted, shaking one smoke loose and lifting it to his lips. "You'd be doing yourself a huge favour by just forgetting it."

The kid eyed him with a slight frown and then shook his head. "It just goes to show that Go players are more intelligent," he said, turning to the game and pausing Tetsuo in the midst of lighting the smoke.

"What was that?" the Shogi-club's captain demanded.

"Unlike some, we don't need pieces to do flashy gimmicks to stay interested." the kid said with a snort.

"Tch. Instead you drop stones randomly and act like it's something to be proud of when all you're really doing is making a mess of things," Tetsuo answered, shaking his head and inhaling through the cigarette. "Like it's something _profound_. Seriously though, brat, you'd be better off forgetting it. No one plays Go."

The kid just snorted at that. "Your turn, Tsutsui-san."

"Ah, yes." Tsutsui answered awkwardly and placed the next hand – and watching them just _ignore_ him really pissed Tetsuo off.

"Oh, geez, are you an idiot?" he asked when the kid placed another hand. "Don't put that there; you're just going to be taken. Man, just watching you two play is embarrassing," he said and pointed. "And look at this thing, could you be any more open? Hey, Tsutsui, put a stone here and you have that cluster."

Tsutsui just frowned at him and ignored him, placing a stone onto the other side of the board. The kid, probably embarrassed by his idiotic move, connected to another cluster, but left the one Tetsuo was pointing at completely open.

"Okay, seriously, don't either of you even know how to play this game?" Tetsuo jeered at them, really, really irritated now. "I mean, come on, this kid is full of openings – come on, here, just take this stone and then connect here. Oh, _come on_ , what are you doing, don't put that stone there – No you brat, don't do that, you're just going to get taken. Tsutsui, I really thought you were more intelligent than that –."

"Do you blather like this while watching a Shogi game, you bastard? Shut up, already." the kid snapped at him and Tetsuo laughed.

"What, pissed off about me pointing out your little mistakes? That's what you get for being so weak, kid – you really ought to try Shogi instead. Or, wait, I know, you could try checkers. You could even use your Goban for that, what do you thin –." Tetsuo paused mid tirade as the kid snarled at him, and slapped down another stone.

And suddenly, the game on the Goban had a whole different outlook.

 _'Oi, oi, what was that?'_ he thought, leaning closer to look. That stupid move from before, somehow… somehow it wasn't so stupid anymore. The kid now had his cluster protected and not just that, but he was making a serious go at the centre at the same time. _'How did he knit those moves together like that? He went there and… there and then…'_ He had seen greater strategies, but this… the kid had come off looking like an idiot just a moment ago, and now he had a greater hold of the territory. How had that happened?

Tsutsui was blinking at the board too, looking faintly surprised by the turn of events while the kid in front of him folded his hands and leaned back. "Shindo-kun?" Tsutsui asked after a moment. "Back in the tournament you said you had just started…. How long have you been playing Go?"

Tetsuo glanced up. What kind of question was that?

"Few weeks. A month maybe?" the kid asked and shrugged.

"What?" Tetsuo demanded. "You can't be serious. A _month_?!"

The kid scowled at him. "Yeah, a month. What's it to you?" he scowled while Tetsuo shared a look with Tsutsui. A month. Was that even possible? A month ought to be just enough to learn the basics, not this, not these sorts of strategies, this sort of skill. If the brat played this well after just a _month_ of Go….

 _'No, wait, what the hell? Why do I even care?'_ he asked, leaning back a bit and quickly inhaling through his cigarette to calm down. It didn't work and a little uneasily he stared at the kid, thinking.  A _month_. He had heard of stranger things than people learning a game in a month, but it was still a bit unnerving – especially since he could remember how long it had taken him to get to that point, a fair bit more than a month. _'A freaking month and he's at this point. Is this kid one of those genius brats who learn things really fast? Really, really doesn't look the part.'_

Unbidden, the memory of Toya Akira came to his head. Toya Akira with his stupid page boy haircut and unbeatable skill, the kid who had ended Tetsuo's own interest in Go. _'That bastard,'_ he thought, but not with the same, impotent frustration as usual. How long did it take for Toya Akira to learn Go? And if this kid learned Go in a month, and kept progressing at that pace….

"You know what, forget this game," he decided and more or less shoved Tsutsui out of the chair, much to his classmate's irritation. "Play me. I want to know how good you really are."

"I don't want to play you – you're an asshole!" the brat answered.

"You will play or I will throw you into the school’s pool. You have any idea how cold that pool is right now, huh? Well, if you don't play you're going into it head first." Tetsuo said, and quickly began clearing the board.

"Tsutsui-san, who is this guy?" the brat asked, pointing at Tetsuo.

"He's Kaga Tetsuo, the captain of the Shogi-club," Tsutsui said while getting up from the ground with a disgruntled expression – the closest he could ever get to actual anger, the pansy. "He used to go to the same Go-class as Toya Akira."

Tetsuo grimaced and glanced at the kid across him, expecting the usual reaction those words got from Go fans – had gotten from Tsutsui. Really, how old were you, did you play him, what was he like, how good was he? But instead the kid just scowled harder at him.

"So?" he asked with the sort of hostility Tetsuo was used to hearing only from himself when it came to Toya Akira. "Like that's any proof of being good," the kid said with a huff. "Though I guess that explains where he got his asshole-ness – probably rubbed off from that jerk."

And suddenly, Tetsuo liked the kid a whole lot more. "What did Toya Akira do to you?" he asked, grinning.

"He was born," the brat grumbled, but began to clear the board as well. "Nigiri, you bastard," the kid said once they were done, and they laid out some stones, Tetsuo getting the black while the brat was left with the white. "Five point five Komi?" the kid asked as they exchanged the bowls.

"Fine," Tetsuo said, and then they began to play. At first the kid was nothing special – if anything he seemed a bit disappointingly ordinary really. But there was a strange quality to his Go. At first Tetsuo couldn't really put a finger on it – it wasn't exactly a weakness nor was it overwhelming strength or anything that seemed all that impressive. But his Go was… strange somehow? A bit off here and there, some of the moves at first looking downright strange… and then Tetsuo realised that the kid was playing with pretty old joseki.

"Where the hell did you learn from, from history books?" he muttered, but now that he realised what was going on, the board made a whole lot more sense. It was a bit like the kid had learned from a history book, yeah, but… he wasn't actually that bad.

 _'But he's not that impressive either,'_ Tetsuo thought and then moved to attack. Tsutsui's level, sure, maybe just a tiny bit better, but not as good as Tetsuo. Move by move that was clearly proven, as the kid fumbled under his attacks, feebly trying to defend and coming up short, shorter and… then, a one pretty strange move in middle of otherwise predictable game. Tetsuo paused there, to look at the stone, wondering. _'Is this it?'_

He looked up at the kid who was staring at the board intently, oblivious of everything around him. Well, if he had another plan like the one he had played against Tsutsui up his sleeve, Tetsuo wasn't falling for it. Quickly he moved to counteract whatever plan the kid as brewing, watching his opponent's face carefully for the signs of disappointment.

But they didn't come. Five moves, ten, fifteen, twenty and Tetsuo was starting to think that the odd move had been just that, and the kid had no grand scheme after all – that the thing with Tsutsui had been a fluke and really the kid was nothing impressive. Shaking his head he returned to securing his territories – he was leading, and would win without doubt and….

And then it was there, the odd move, in a _perfect_ spot. And Tetsuo himself had made it so by securing that left side line, and making the brat counteract by securing his own influence – and thus, making the odd move stand suddenly in a perfect spot.

 _'Twenty eight moves. Did he read ahead that far?'_ Tetsuo wondered with surprise. It didn't put the kid into the lead, but it definitely dealt with some of the difference. Tetsuo was still winning, but not by as much as before. _'No, he knew I'd eventually need to secure that line, and he was waiting for it. Except…'_ except all the moves the kid had played for the last ten or so hands had been about that one manoeuvre. _'Okay. So. He_ can _do things like that. Not bad, but not good enough either. This game is far from over.'_

The sequence of moves stayed in his head, though. It had been pretty well set up – not exactly shining brilliance, Tetsuo had definitely seen better games – but… most those games he had seen had either been pro-games, or games of people seriously aiming to be pro's.

In the end, the result was inevitable – Tetsuo won by five and half moku, while the kid grit his teeth and hissed in frustration. But even if that victory had been inevitable, the game that had taken them there… and this kid, this _brat_ , after playing only a month? The hell? Was that like his average rate of growth? Two weeks from now, would he be better again by half, a month from now twice as good? Hell, in just one _week_ ….

A week… Tetsuo considered that, and then turned to Tsutsui. "Take off your jacket," he ordered.

"Huh?" his classmate asked, glasses slipping a little down his nose.

"Your jacket, take it off!" Tetsuo ordered, reaching out to take said jacket by the collar and wrench it off. Tsutsui struggled for a moment but seemed to decide that giving in was better than ripping his jacket apart and relinquished his hold, looking thoroughly confused as Tetsuo threw it at the brat's face. "Here, put this on," he ordered.

"What are you doing, Kaga?!" Tsutsui demanded.

"The team tournament for junior high Go clubs is in two weeks, isn't it?" Tetsuo asked, while the brat looked at Tsutsui's jacket confusedly. "Now we have a team for it. Me, you, and him," Tetsuo added, pointing at the brat awhile Tsutsui stared at him like he was insane. "I'll be the captain," he continued. "The brat's the second board and you're the third." If the kid's ability was real, then by that time he would've grown into that slot.

"What? Why am I the third board?" Tsutsui demanded and then seemed to recall himself. "And besides, we can't go to the tournament – Shindo-kun is a grade schooler!  And we can't have a grade schooler for vice-captain! What are you thinking?!"

"Fine, you'll be the second board and the kid the third, it doesn't really matter." Tetsuo said, waving a hand. It didn't really matter which way they went in the end, so long as he was the first board.

"Wait a moment, Kaga; we can't take a grade schooler into the tournament, what if they'd find out? We'd be disqualified and banned and –"

"And there is no way in hell I'm going into any –" the kid started and then promptly stopped as Tetsuo took him by the collar.

"You will, or it's to the pool with you," he said, grinning. "You will come and you will play and in the meantime you will train your ass off, do you hear me? Because if you don't show up, I'll find you and I'll find a nice little ice cold pond to throw you into instead."

"Ugh," the kid answered, twisting in his hold.

"Kaga…!" Tsutsui objected.

"You ought to be glad, Tsutsui. You have your little Go-club now, already to start touring all the little tournaments," Tetsuo said with a grin and then glanced at the boy who was now gasping for breath and backing away. "Besides," he added under his breath, glancing at Tsutsui. "Don't you want to see how much he would've improved, by then?" Because he sure as hell wanted to know if the kid was for real.

 

* * *

 

Sai hummed happily to himself, while Hikaru-kun prepared for bed. Things had been absolutely wonderful in the last weeks. Sai got to play as much Go as he could in the mornings, when Hikaru-san took him either to Go-salons or in net café's where he could play NetGo, and in the afternoons all three of them were together and usually playing, and then in the evening he got to coach Hikaru-kun through his difficulties and maybe watch how the boy himself played NetGo on his father's _compootah_.

Even with Torajiro, there hadn't been so much Go in a single day than Sai got to enjoy now.

And such Go it was too! People had different levels of skill in this time, as they did in the past, but there were so many opponents to choose from, and always at hand. And Hikaru-san himself was nothing to scoff at, and Hikaru-kun was showing great promise, despite the boy's own grumbling about it. And on top of everything good, there was the wonderful knowledge that one day very soon, he would get to play Toya Koyo, the man closest to the Hand of God in these times.

Now, if only it all hadn't come wrapped in the difficulties of these times. Hikaru-kun had things relatively easy as far as problems went, but he was growing resentful of Hikaru-san and it was painful to watch, especially since Hikaru-san went to such lengths to improve Hikaru-kun's abilities – and Sai couldn't do much about it. What  the reason was exactly, Sai wasn't sure. Most likely it was a mix of feeling inferior to Hikaru-san and the fact that Hikaru-san already knew the things which Hikaru-kun was only discovering. And maybe the fact that with Hikaru-san, Hikaru-kun wasn't really discovering things for himself, but was being taught and shown instead.

And then there was Hikaru-san. Sighing, Sai closed his eyes. As bright and unaffected as Hikaru-san acted, he was not living the life he thought he would be, or the life he wanted. Sai hadn't seen all of it – Hikaru-san didn't allow it, wouldn't tell him everything, but… Sai knew. He had seen the place where Hikaru-san lived, a drab, lifeless place compared to Hikaru-kun's home, and… and….

Glancing at Hikaru-kun, Sai sighed. It wasn't really his place to judge either of the two Hikaru's, when both of them had given him so much. It was a delight to teach Hikaru-kun, and Sai couldn't help but enjoy the way Hikaru-san went out his way to make him happy. Whatever problems there were, however severe the resentments… it wasn't his place to judge.

"I'm all stiff," Hikaru-kun sighed, stretching. "I seriously need a better Goban. One with legs," he added, casting a glance at the foldable Goban they had been using just half an hour ago. "Wonder if Saito would buy me one…."

Sai didn't answer, shifting a bit at the name, half pleased and half guilty. It still gave him a little burst of selfish pleasure to hear it, and to know the reasons behind it. Which was especially horrible since he knew the price of that pleasure was definitely felt by Hikaru-san.

 "Maybe I'll ask him after the tournament thingy," Hikaru-kun muttered and stretched out on his bed with a yawn. He snorted slightly. "A tournament. The hell am I doing in a tournament?"

"I think it sounds like fun." Sai offered softly, a little uncertain. It was sometimes a little hard to see what Hikaru-kun really thought of Go. He played it and learned it with the determination of a bull, but Sai was painfully aware that most time it was a source of frustration for the boy, rather than enjoyment.

"Maybe," the boy answered and stretched. "Well, it'll be an experience. And after all this work, it'd be stupid not to go – and I really want all this Go playing to be for a reason." he added.

Sai bowed his head a bit, unfolding his fan slowly. "Hikaru-kun?" he asked then. "Do you like Go?"

The boy didn't answer at first, just stared at the ceiling above him. "I don't know," he then admitted. "Sometimes it's interesting, but… I don't know. Most times it just annoys the hell out of me."

The spirit nodded, a little dejected. He had known as much, but it was a little hurtful to hear it spoken out loud. "I don't think Hikaru-san intends to infuriate you." he said softly. It was rather obvious to him what Hikaru-san was trying, but he wasn't sure if Hikaru-kun would understand. He was younger and didn't have Hikaru-san's regrets.

"Yeah, well, he does it anyway," Hikaru-kun murmured and then turned to look at him. "What does that guy do, anyway? I mean, he's got a job now, doesn't he? He's got new clothing and he's got to be living somewhere, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he has, both an occupation and a place to live in," Sai answered with a sigh, looking away. Hikaru-san worked the evenings and late into the night – which was one of the main reasons why Sai spent his evenings with the boy, rather than the young man. Hikaru-san didn't want him there, and in a way… Sai was glad. Many things confused him about the modern world, and each day something surprised him, and he simply didn't have the mental fortitude to handle Hikaru-san's occupation.

"He can manage," he said then, more to himself than to Hikaru-kun. "Though I am not sure if he would be able to buy you a Goban with legs. You will have to ask him." he added, feeling a bit like a coward.

"Yeah, I'll ask him after the tournament. Him or maybe grandpa," the boy said thoughtfully. "Grandpa is such a Go freak so he might buy me one if I ask. Oh well," he then said and turned around. "I'm going to sleep. Good night, Sai."

"Good night, Hikaru-kun," the spirit answered, folding his fan shut again and looking around himself. He was in for yet another lonely, still night, but he didn't mind. He liked Hikaru-kun's room; it was very lively and full of strange, futuristic gadgetry. Hikaru-san went out of his way to accommodate Sai in his home, of course - Hikaru-san often left kifu lying in neat rows for Sai to read and sometimes taped them to the walls, but Hikaru-kun's room was more lived in. And more loved by its occupant.

 _'I wonder if Hikaru-san expects me to go to him tomorrow. I'd rather like to see the tournament,'_ the spirit thought and after considering it for a moment he decided to go to Hikaru-san. Not yet, though. Sai glanced at the clock on Hikaru-kun's bedside table and then away again. Four, five hours and Hikaru-san would be done at his job for that night. Sai would go to him then, when it wouldn't be so… uncomfortable.

Turning his thoughts away from the young man's job, Sai thought of the games he had played that day. He had started the day playing against Hikaru-san while the young man ate breakfast. Then they had gone out to the Go-salon near Hikaru-san's apartment, where he had played against two opponents at once – they hadn't been brilliant, but the games had been interesting nonetheless. Then there had been NetGo, with many, many opponents. You could squeeze quite lot of half an hour games into five hours, after all.

 _'NetGo is a marvellous invention,'_ the spirit thought happily. And so were Go-salons, and all the many, many Go tutorials and kifu collections and the Weekly Go magazine and…. Even in Torajiro's time he hadn't expected it to be like this, so full of Go.

He spent the four hours waiting almost completely by marvelling how wonderful the future was. By the time he thought Hikaru-san might be finished, he was feeling a bit better about the two Hikaru's and of Go – though the problems were still there and most likely going nowhere. But they would either be solved or not, and for now he would take things as they came, as he was able to take them – one thing at a time.

Standing up, Sai glanced down at Hikaru-kun, who was deep asleep and would be for many hours yet. Unless Hikaru-san minded, he'd be back before the boy ever knew he was gone. Smiling faintly, the spirit closed his eyes and then _reached_.

He didn't much like going from one Hikaru to another, when there was a great distance in between. It felt disorienting, and quite bit like it did when he had come out of the Goban – a little freeing but mostly like he was just going from one containment to another. It was times like this, when he flowed through the space in between, even less physical than normally, that he truly felt the limitations of his existence.

But he had grown quicker about it, and before the feeling got too overwhelming, he was there. And it seemed he had timed his appearance just right – he appeared just in the street outside the apartment building where Hikaru-san lived, behind the young man himself.

"Hikaru-san?" he called to inform the young man of his presence, and the youth jerked sharply, dropping the keys he was holding.

"What?" the young man asked, turning, wavering a bit, and Sai's heart sank at the sight of him. "Oh, Sai," the young man said, blinking his artificially bright eyes at him and then recalling himself. _'Surprised me,'_ the thought came to the spirit, feeling a little muddled and blurry. _'I thought I said… not to come in the evenings.'_

"It's night now. And you are drunk." Sai said quietly.

 _'Just a bit,'_ the young man agreed, looking away and then slowly crouching down to pick up the keys. He didn't look at Sai when he stood up and turned back towards the building, and with a sigh Sai looked away. He should've waited until morning, he thought, as the young man fumbled with the keys and clumsily opened the door to the building. Silently, feeling awful, the spirit followed.

As always, Hikaru-san's home was quiet and empty, when they entered it. It was small, and decorated only by two things – a futon in the corner, and a legless Goban which sat in the middle of the room, with the stone bowls sitting neatly on top of it. The magazines and kifu spread about did very little towards making the place feel like home, and while looking at the place Sai couldn't help but think how understandable it was, that Hikaru-san spent as little time there as possible.

 _'So, was there something you wanted?'_ Hikaru-san asked, while kicking off his shoes and easing his jacket off with a weary sigh.

"Hikaru-kun's tournament tomorrow. I was wondering if you would mind it if I went with him – I am curious about what it is like." the spirit said, not looking at him.

 _'You don't need my permission for anything, Sai. If you want to do it, then you ought to do it,'_ Hikaru-san answered and wavered a bit in the act of putting his coat away. He had to lean onto the door and Sai could see him swallowing thickly – sadly he wondered how much he had drunk this time.

"I need a shower," the young man finally murmured, and stumbled towards the small bathroom, with Sai hesitating for a moment and wondering if he ought to leave. But… as much as it hurt him to see this, any of this, he couldn't just _leave_ , when Hikaru-san was like this.

So, with a sigh he followed, and then sat on the bathroom floor, his back to the shower, while the young man fumbled with his clothing.

"Hikaru-san?" he asked, as the clothes spilled piece by piece to the floor. "Why… don't you get another job?"

There was moment of stillness as the young man removed the contact lenses from his eyes and put them into their case. _'Because I doubt I'd be able to find one,'_ Hikaru-san finally answered, and the water began to run. _'I'm, lucky to have found anything and this one pays pretty well.'_

Sai bowed his head. He wanted so desperately to say something, to object, but… what did he know? Hikaru-san needed money to live, to pay his rent and buy him food, and the only way to get it was by working. But surely there could be other options? Unless… "Is it because you don't have those… identification papers?" he asked quietly.

 _'No – I got those now, thanks to the old woman,'_ Hikaru-san answered. _'It's got more to do with the fact that I'm freaking fifteen years old. It's pretty hard to find a good old honest day job when you're too young to legally work.'_

"And fifteen year olds are allowed to drink alcohol?" Sai asked, a little spiteful.

 _'Not really,'_ the young man answered, and let out a little giggle, feeble, mirthless sound. Grimacing, Sai glanced back at him, to find him leaning his head against the tiles of the shower wall while the water, hot enough to steam, poured down on him.

At least he wasn't bruised anymore, the spirit thought as he turned to look away. But he couldn't say that made him particularly happy either. He hadn't been there when Hikaru-san had suffered those injuries, but he had seen them grow darker and then lighter – and there was still a faint red line where the youth's lip had been split.

And all of it, because Hikaru-san was out of time, and had to resort to some drastic measures to manage. And that because he had made a wish to let Sai play and because someone, somewhere, had thought it was a good idea to grant it in such a manner. Sighing Sai closed his eyes and pretended not to hear the giggle turning into a muffled, feeble sob, barely audible. He wasn't so sure they were looked down upon by kind gods anymore.

Hikaru-san finished his shower quickly and looking a little better he stumbled out again, leaving his clothes lying on the bathroom floor as he went. _'You ought to go to the brat,'_ he thought at Sai, while heading to the corner where he did his cooking, and digging something out of the fridge. _'And have fun at the tournament.'_

"I will," Sai promised, but went nowhere and while Hikaru-san sat on the floor to eat his onigiri while wearing nothing but a towel, Sai sat next to him silently.

The young man glanced at him and then away, flushing a bit with embarrassment. _'I don't… really like you seeing me like this,'_ he admitted silently.

Sai snorted softly, unfolding his fan and holding it up. "Then we are in agreement because I don't wish to see you like this either," he said, and then glanced at the younger man as Hikaru-san flinched, curling a bit in on himself and away from the verbal blow. "I'm…" the spirit started and sighed. "I'm sorry. I just… I wish your life was easier."

Hikaru-san didn't answer, just ate his food. With another sigh, Sai lowered the fan again. "I understand, I really do. You need to manage somehow and as… as bad as it is, there is no helping it. I am not judging you, Hikaru-san; I know you're doing the best you can under the circumstances. I just… wish…" he trailed away. "I wish things were different."

"Yeah," Hikaru san murmured out loud and gave him an embarrassed, bleary eyed smile. With his eyes in their natural murky green state and his artificially lengthened hair still wet and lank, he looked… strange. It didn't help that he was naked to the waist. He looked bare and defenceless somehow, and Sai hated to see the young man – whom he knew to be proud and strong – so weak.

Some of what he was thinking probably showed on his face, because the young man smiled. _'It's not so bad. You're here, after all,'_ he thought, hesitating and then reaching out a hand and laying his fingers on Sai's cheek, while Sai stared back at him sadly. The young man really was drunk – he usually didn't dare to try and make contact like that.

Hikaru smiled a little blearily, tracing his thumb over the spirit's slightly pouting lips. _'I'm sorry I'm such a mess, that things are so damn ugly,'_ he thought, staring at the spot where his finger made contact with Sai's mouth. _'But I'm not unhappy, you know. Not really.'_

Liar, Sai thought sadly, but leaned into Hikaru-san's fingers and conceded his defeat.

There was no victory in this argument, after all. Not for anyone.

 

* * *

 

Kaoi would be a good junior high school, Akira thought as he looked around the principal's office. Of course, there was nothing else it could be, being expensive and elitist the way it was. It also had a very good policy as far as it came to students who worked outside of school time – quite a few of the students had some sort of employment, the most famous being a young model who was now in the second year. A Go-professional – or a future Go-professional – would fit right in.

If he became a Go professional.

"I think we will have a place for you here, definitely. Your abilities are widely known, after all," the principal said. "And of course when you take the pro-exam, the school is quite equipped to handle your absences and to make sure that you keep up with the rest of your class."

"Thank you," Akira nodded, hiding his own doubts. Somewhere in the back of his head, that game still loomed, that horrible, beautiful, terrifying game. Saito-san was older than him, had no doubt more experience, and yet…. "I'm sure you will take good care of me." he added, trying to smother the thought.

"Yes, yes, don't you worry about a thing," the principal smiled. "Now, I hope that once you start here, you will take a look at our Go-club. They are really quite good and have been holding a winning streak for a while. I understand that a club like that is meaningless for a future pro, but it would really mean a lot to the members of the club. It would put some spirit into them, get everyone excited."

Akira smiled faintly at that. He still felt weakened after that game, like the rug had been pulled from beneath his feet and his legs had been cut below the knees. It was now almost a reflexive reaction to anyone telling him he was strong or talented – that game flashed in the back of his head, and the sensation of helplessness came back.

Maybe it was unfair for him to compare himself to someone his elder, his senior, but… he really had thought that there was no one below the age of twenty, no, twenty five, who could compete with him.

"I am not as strong as people think," he said out loud. "I'm sorry; I don't think I will be able to join the club." He needed to study, to practice, to get better, something, _anything_. He couldn't waste his time with some club; no matter how good, they wouldn't be _good enough_.

"You're very modest," the principal said, standing up. "A good trait for a soon to be pro, I'm sure. But I would still like you to think about it – the Go-club if nothing else could be a place for you to relax between serious games," he added while taking his jacket. "I would like to show you, however. There is a team tournament here today, with the Go-clubs of Tokyo's junior high schools competing. I think you might be surprised by their abilities."

Akira hesitated and then glanced up. "Tournament?" he asked, wondering if the man had asked him to come to the school precisely on that day just because of the tournament. There could've been other opportunities for a meeting, after all, surely.

"It's just a little walk away," the principal said, smiling. "And there are a lot of schools competing this year, it should be quite inspirational."

With a sigh Akira stood up and picked up his coat, to follow the principal. He really wasn't interested, but he wasn't rude enough to decline to the man's face – and maybe it would take his mind off things. Off Saito-san.

And like with everything, when you don't want to think about something, you inevitably end up thinking just that thing. As they walked, Akira couldn't help but recall what Ogata-sensei had told him – about the game between Saito-san and Ogata-sensei. A game they had played in his home, in front of his father – who had then privately asked for a game as well.

 _'I almost wish Ogata-san wouldn't have told me,'_ Akira mused, with an inward sigh. When he had heard of the game, and seen it… he couldn't think properly for a long while. A fifteen year old, who held out against a ninth-dan player, against Ogata-sensei? If his own game against Saito-san had been terrifying, it was nothing compared to that one. Akira… couldn't beat that level of skill. And he couldn't understand how someone so young could have it. Someone of Ogata-sensei's age, maybe, but a teenager?

And worse yet, none of them knew where Saito-san was, how to contact him, anything. Not even his father, who was now expecting that game – expecting it in the same way he expected games in the Room of Profound Darkness, the title matches and such.

 _"Why didn't you set a date for the game?"_ Akira had asked after finding out about it, not understanding why they had left the whole thing so open – why they hadn't played instantly.

 _"Saito-kun asked for time,"_ his father had answered calmly. _"He will come to the salon once he is ready."'_

And now, so many days afterwards, his father was still patiently waiting. How he could stand it, Akira didn't know – the concept of that game, and the realisation that Saito might actually be on _that level_ , that distant height of ability that Akira could only dream of….

"Here," the principal said, bringing him out of his anxious thoughts, and looking up Akira saw that they had stopped in front a door leading into a classroom. Feeling blind and deaf, Akira looked up and through the door way, to see a crowd of people inside, junior high schoolers from several different schools, mumbling softly while Go-stones clicked against boards.

At first what he was seeing didn't really register. Then his eyes fixed on a boy with black hair behind and bleached bangs in the front, and his heart skipped a beat. _'Shindo. That's Shindo-kun! What… why is he here?'_

The boy was standing a bit dejectedly on the side, hands crossed behind his neck, wearing a school uniform – while beside him stood two other boys in similar uniforms, one of them staring at the floor sorrowfully while the other was, by the looks of it, berating Shindo – the elder, taller boy was poking a folded fan at Shindo's chest while Shindo ignored it, looking away.

Working at first on autopilot, Akira stepped forward. _'Shindo-kun. Shindo-kun knows Saito-san, he knows… I can ask him, I can have another game, I can try…'_ and then his brain caught up with his body and he slowed down, pausing, thinking. Saito-san, who met Ogata-san on an even field and lost only by half a moku, Saito-san whom his father was now waiting to play. Did he really… want to play that game?

 _'Yes!'_ every bit of him screamed, the years of training and trying to find a good opponent and falling short time and time again, powered by every compliment he had ever gotten, and how they all now felt like lies. He wanted that game, yes, he _needed_ it. Needed to know for sure, needed to, to… try again.

Shindo noticed him before he got close enough to speak, and Akira was almost startled when the distracted expression instantly shut off, and a frown came to Shindo's brow. That drew the attention of the others at Shindo's side who turned to look at him too, both looking surprised.

"Shindo-kun," Akira said, a little awkward now. He wanted to ask, wanted to… but he couldn't, not when the boy was looking at him like that. "What are you doing here?" he asked instead, trying to sound not as urgent as he felt.

"Playing Go," the other boy answered and somehow he made the words sound rather hostile.

"Losing, you mean," the taller boy at his side said, shoving at his shoulder.

"I won the first game, didn't I? The second guy was strong," Shindo answered and a sniff and then looked at Akira with a mild frown. "What do you want, Toya?" he asked, and the hostility crept back into his voice.

"Uh…" Akira hesitated but then steeled himself. He wanted to play Saito-san – Shindo-kun and whatever he thought of him was of no consequence. "Can I talk with you in private for a moment?" he asked, pointing to the hallway behind him, a little grateful that the principal had ventured off to watch the games going on – it looked like it was the last round. "I won't take long, I promise."

Shindo looked like he didn't want to but after a moment he sighed and lowered his hands. "Probably should get going anyway; no point staying here when we're done," he said and glanced at the elder boys at his side. "I'm going."

"I'll… I want to see which team wins," the dark haired boy with glasses said, still looking morose, and turned to walk into the crowd.

"I'm going to head home too. See you around, Tsutsui, Shindo." the taller, red haired boy said, and walked past Akira with a sniff.

Shindo waited for a moment, looking after the bespectacled boy and sighing before turning to Akira. "Okay, fine, go," he said, waving and a little awkwardly Akira backed away and to the hall where they could talk in private. Shindo followed, pushing his hands into his pockets and looking uncomfortable, but at least he was following. That was all Akira wanted.

"Let me guess," Shindo said before Akira could open his mouth. "You want to play Saito again?"

"I, uh… yes," Akira said. "I wouldn't bother you, but I have no way of doing so. I don't know how to contact him. If you could…" he trailed away as the boy scowled at him. "Shindo-kun?" he asked, feeling a little awkward. What had he done to this boy? Well, he supposed he had been a bit rude at the children's Go tournament, but….

"Why do you want to play that guy?" Shindo asked.

"He is… strong. I want a rematch." Akira said. He needed to try again, to see if he had improved in the intervening time. And he wanted to see it again, that skill, those hands. Even after all this time and all the proofs, he wasn't entirely sure he hadn't been imagining it.

"You and everybody's uncle," Shindo muttered, and leaned against the wall, looking annoyed. "What's the point if you're just going to lose?"

Akira froze a bit at that, his hands squeezing into fists. Yes, of course, Shindo was probably right, but… to hear it said so blatantly. Was Shindo trying to make him angry? "I won't know unless I play him – and I won't improve at all if I just avoid stronger opponents," he said a bit heatedly. "Saito-san… Saito-san's Go is incredible, and there is much I can learn from him, even if I lose. And there is always a chance that I won't."

Shindo just blinked at him, his face expressionless. "He doesn't even care about you," he said a bit spitefully. "He's going to play your dad next. That's what he cares about."

Akira let out a hiss and then grit his teeth to try and compose himself. Yes, Shindo was definitely trying to make him angry – and somehow he knew exactly where to hit too. Was Akira really being so obvious? "Even so," he said through gritted teeth. "I would still very much like to play him."

The other boy said nothing, looking away instead. Some of the hostility seemed to fade from his face as he thought about it, replaced by something else. "Hey," he said, his voice thoughtful now. "Would you like to play me?"

"You?" Akira asked with disbelief, completely thrown by the suggestion and unable to help himself as he let out a little chuckle. "Why would I want to play _you_?"

The hostility made an instant comeback. "You really piss me off, you know," Shindo said, pushing away from the wall, scowling. "You and Saito both. I don't know what the deal with you and him and every other damn Go player is, but the whole lot of you piss the hell out of me." He stabbed a finger at Akira's chest, making him falter with surprise, unable to keep up with the other boy's mood changes. "So, I'm nothing to you or him or anyone else? Fine. I'm going to show you and him and _everyone else_ , and when I'm better than you, you know what I'm going to do?"

Akira just gaped at him, disbelieving.

"I'm going to _ignore_ you." Shindo growled, and with a last shove at Akira, he turned and walked away, his steps echoing in the hall.

Akira stared after him with wide eyes, feeling oddly deflated all of sudden. _'What… just happened?'_

 

* * *

 

Hikaru looked up from the computer, as his brat self descended onto the chair beside him with a disgruntled huff. It had been a couple of days since the team tournament, and his younger self was still stewing – though according to Sai it had less to do about losing his second game and not winning the tournament, and more to do with a brief meeting with Toya Akira after it. Hikaru himself had almost forgotten that Toya would be there, but it was a bit too late to regret it now, when the damage had so obviously already been done.

"Bad day?" Hikaru asked idly.

"Go to hell," his younger self answered, folding his arms and scowling at the screen, and at the game Sai was playing in the net. "You're still practicing on the net? Shouldn't you be thinking of playing the Meijin already – or are you going to wait forever?"

"I will be facing the Meijin this weekend," Sai answered, his lips hidden behind the fan and looking somewhat nervously between Hikaru and his brat self – which was a pretty justified. The last time they had met it had ended up in a shouting match and them being banned from a Go salon. "If Hikaru-san can arrange the meeting, of course." the spirit added.

"I'm going to visit the salon to ask if the Meijin has the time today," Hikaru added. "Wanna come?"

"Like hell," his younger self answered, folding his arms and leaning back in a great sulk, looking even more like a brat than usual. "Toya will probably be there and I don't want to see his pretty boy mug."

"Okay then," Hikaru answered, a little amused and more confused. _'Sai, the next move?'_ he asked, and the spirit pointed to it quickly. While waiting for the opponent to retaliate, Hikaru glanced at his younger self. Sure, he and Toya had played the hide and seek game too, but it hadn't been like this. Though of course, Toya had been chasing after him thinking he was Sai, and… well. It was different for the brat this time.

He had thought it would be easier on the kid, though. Hikaru himself had gotten into a lot of trouble because of Toya's obsession. It ought to have been easier for the brat, to be free from those expectations – though Hikaru had tried to make him feel _some_ of the expectations, because he knew he always learned the quickest under pressure. He had been aiming for different sort of pressure, though, a different motivation. He didn't think this, whatever this was, would happen.

"Hey, you know Toya right? You know what he’ll do?" the brat asked.

"Yeah, more or less. Might be a bit different this time, though," Hikaru answered. He doubted very much that Toya would enter Kaio's Go-club this time, since it wasn't the brat he wanted to play, and he wasn't sure if the brat wanted to join Haze's Go club either. The kid felt… differently about Go than he had at that time, though Hikaru couldn't figure out _why_. Go was Go and he was himself, so why… was it different?

"So what's he going to do?" his younger self demanded to know.

Hikaru glanced at him and then at Sai who was silently frowning at the brat. _'If it goes the same way, he’ll be entering the pro-exam this year, and will pass it too,'_ Hikaru answered thoughtfully, looking at the kid. _'After that he will be playing professionally all of the time and will probably rise in levels pretty quickly. He was just a second-dan when I… came here.'_

 _'The pro-exam,'_ his brat self thought back, scowling and chewing his lower lip. Then, after a moment of silent thought, the sort that wasn't transferred by their odd bond, he turned to look at Hikaru. "Can I enter the pro-exam?" he asked out loud.

Hikaru should've been expecting that, but he really hadn't been – and the question threw him a bit. For a moment he just stared at his younger self before turning in the chair to face him completely, leaving the game Sai was playing aside for a moment. "If you'd try it now, you'd lose every game," Hikaru said honestly, frowning a bit. "Where's this coming from?"

"I want to beat that bastard up," his younger self muttered, kicking the table leg and then scowling. "Could I learn? I've learned pretty fast until now, haven't I? I mean, it shocked Tsutsui and Kaga so it has to be pretty good. And there's still months until then – it's like, in the summer, isn't it? Could I become good enough to try it?"

Hikaru's eyebrows lifted at that and he had to take a double take at the brat. He was seriously asking if he could pass the pro-exam – a year earlier than Hikaru himself had. For a moment Hikaru had no idea what to say to that, the whole thought seemed a bit absurd, ridiculous, not worth replying to even. But….

The brat was learning fast. Hikaru himself had too, once he had finally gotten serious. It had taken him a hell of a long time to get serious too, he had just known how to play barely, and only almost a year after meeting Sai he had really gotten a Goban of his own and started to actually _study_ Go. The brat though had been studying for weeks now, and Sai was teaching him every day – and the kid was playing NetGo too, all the time. And mostly against Waya, who had sort of started to tutor the kid on the net.

The pro-exam's preliminaries would be in July, five months from then. Five months… Hikaru narrowed his eyes a bit, considering it.

"How difficult are the pro-exams?" Sai asked while he considered it.

 _'Pretty difficult. It's mostly insei and very strong amateurs there and of everyone trying only three get in. First there are the preliminaries which cut out a lot of potential applicants, and then there's the exam itself and it takes a long while to complete. You need to win most of your games – with me there were twenty seven games, and I just barely passed with three losses,'_ Hikaru explained. _'Toya passed with one forfeit, and that's because he didn't show up the first day.'_

"And I suppose the opponents will all be quite tough." Sai mused considering.

 _'Really tough - and Toya would be there too,'_ Hikaru agreed, eyeing his younger self thoughtfully.

 _'But I could try, couldn't I? There's still months, I could train and try,'_ the brat thought almost viciously. _'I could. You could train me – you know what it would take!'_

Yeah, Hikaru knew. The problem was, he didn't know how serious the brat was being. Hikaru himself had been dead serious, partially because he wanted to chase after Toya but also because he had seriously loved Go. The brat, on other hand… well, he enjoyed Go at times, Hikaru knew – he had been checking out the game logs of the brat's account in NetGo, and the brat played a lot. But Hikaru wasn't sure how much he really liked Go.

If they did this, and then the kid gave up half a way… he doubted he'd be able to get the brat be so serious again.

But then again it would've been seriously awesome if the kid tried it and passed. To know that he, that they, had that in them all that time….

After moment of long, hard consideration, Hikaru decided that life was way too short and he liked betting too much. If the kid failed then he'd fail and that'd be that. There was no use worrying about it now – what he needed to do, what the brat needed him to do, was push him. And Hikaru was good at pushing. But first he needed proof that the brat was really serious, that he wouldn't just give up once he'd run out of the anger at Toya which was in the end powering this.

 _'Okay, tell you what. If you beat_ zelda _in an even game, then we'll do it,'_ Hikaru thought at the brat. _'You have a month to do it. If you beat_ Zelda _in a month, then I'll do everything in my power to teach you and make sure you pass.'_

 _'But that's just a waste of time! You'd be able to teach me a lot in a month!'_ the brat complained. _'Why'd I have to beat_ Zelda _?'_

 _'He'll be in the pro-exam too. If you can beat him, then you actually have a chance at it and we'll know we won't be just wasting time with you,'_ Hikaru thought, poking the kid's forehead. _'And we’ll still be playing in that month, so don't worry. We won't be wasting time. We just won't be serious until you prove yourself.'_

The kid looked like he wanted to complain first, but he grew more serious as Hikaru stared at him levelly. "Alright," he said. "I'll do it."

"Good," Hikaru agreed and turned to Sai who was looking at them with an unreadable expression. _'Shall we continue playing?'_ he asked, indicating at the computer screen.

"Yes," the spirit said, while beside them the brat bounced a bit with anxious energy before jumping up and heading to the counter to pay for some time on a computer. As Sai continued his game with Hikaru placing the moves, the kid claimed one of the computers and with determination in every line of his face, he logged into NetGo. After a while, he was dead to the world, too concentrated to hear or see anything but the screen.

"Hikaru-san?" Sai asked softly. "Is this quite alright?"

 _'I have no idea. But I like his determination,'_ Hikaru added, shaking his head. _'Time will tell if he'll crash and burn.'_

"And… if he crashes?" the spirit asked uneasily.

 _'Then we'll pick up the pieces and move on.'_ Hikaru shrugged and after another uneasy glance towards the brat, Sai nodded. They concentrated on the game which Sai finished in no time at all, after which they started on another game.

The pro-exam though… Hikaru let his thoughts wander a bit, while placing the moves when Sai told him to. He hadn't really planned for that, but then again his plans had been pretty much crashing all around him anyway. Playing Ogata and Toya Meijin… hadn't really been part of the plans, though it had been his intention to let Sai play each and every game he wanted to. He hadn't intended for _Saito Haruki_ to end up in those circles, not like that, not so soon. And of course, his plans for himself, his job, his apartment, everything, hadn't worked out either.

If he was completely truthful with himself, he had actually been considering taking the pro-exam too. It wouldn't help him much financially, not in the beginning, but eventually he could've safely left his current job. Not that it was a particularly hard job, it was just… he really could do without all the damned drinking. But he couldn't take the exam now, not if the brat was taking it – it would probably ruin all the progress they might otherwise make with Shindo Hikaru, and he really didn't want to do that to the brat anyway, to his own self – he knew he would've hated it from the kid's position. And the brat deserved to try without being overshadowed by Sai's abilities.

Well, being an amateur wasn't bad – Sai could still play strong opponents, especially so if he got more known in Toya Meijin's circles and such. There were Go-salons and the net, and everything else – and maybe they'd even manage to make a usual thing out of the games with the Meijin and Ogata, that would keep Sai satisfied. And in the meantime Hikaru would… manage.

Silently he swallowed around the lump in his throat and the ever increasing hollow feeling in his stomach, and placed another digital Go stone just where Sai wanted it. By gods Hikaru missed being _himself_ , having people he could rely on, and a future he could trust. He wouldn't give being able to be with Sai away, not for anything, but….

He really missed being alive.

"Hikaru-san?" Sai asked softly, bowing a bit to see his face. "Are you alright?"

 _'Yeah, never better,'_ Hikaru answered. _'I think we ought to get going after this game, though, if we want to make it to the Toyas' salon before I need to head off to work.'_

"Then I will finish quickly," Sai answered, and did just that. After their opponent had inevitably resigned, leaving Hikaru wondering about what kind of waves Sai's earlier appearance in the net might cause – they were a good five months ahead of schedule in that. It didn't signify anything though, and quickly Hikaru logged out before going to his younger self.

The brat was in the middle of a ferocious game, and by the looks of it he might even win – though it was a pretty low level player. "Kid, I'll be off now," Hikaru said and then added, _'And Sai's coming with me for now.'_

"I'll be back with you once Hikaru-san heads off to work." Sai added out loud.

"Yeah, yeah, go. I'll see you later," the brat said with a wave of his hand. While Sai bid his goodbyes, Hikaru turned to leave, trying to shake his thoughts away with each steps. He really hated being morose – it was stupid and draining and a waste of time and there were so many better things he could be doing. And feeling.

"Hikaru-san, do you miss being a pro player?" Sai asked, as they walked down the street.

 _'Not really. I wasn't one for that long,'_ Hikaru answered with perfect honestly. He didn't miss being a pro in particular – just everything else in general. _'I suppose it was interesting though and I think we can eventually try for the exam ourselves. Just not at the same time as the brat – I wouldn't be able to take the screaming.'_

"Yes," the spirit answered with a chuckle, before hurrying forward so that he was at Hikaru's side, rather than half a step behind him. "Do you think he could pass?" he asked thoughtfully, while tugging the sleeve of his left hand back a bit, to reveal his hand in the way he rarely did, all the way to the pale, pale wrist.

 _'Maybe,'_ Hikaru answered, trying not to stare at the bared wrist, wondering what the spirit was on about now. _'He does have skill in Go, real skill, and if he really gets serious he learns fast. I should know. I can keep him from learning any bad habits and point him in the right direction and if he manages to beat_ Zelda _and we really start this I know just the way to make him impro –'_ he stopped dead, when Sai reached down at his side and suddenly took Hikaru's hand into his own, cool one, sliding their fingers together.

Looking down at their entwined fingers, his shorter, tanned ones mingled with Sai's long, pale digits. _'…Sai?'_ he asked a little confusedly, even while clasping the spirit's hand gently in his.

Sai just smiled, squeezing his hand tightly. "How was the Go-exam when you took it?" the spirit asked, as if nothing unusual had happened.

Hikaru hesitated and then relaxed a bit, turning his eyes forward. As he began to explain what it had been like, what sort of games he had played – how disappointed he had been with himself after the game with Isumi and how hard the game against Ochi had been, he wondered. Did he really deserve this, this consideration from Sai? At times it felt like he was stealing it away from the brat, who really had as much right to it as he did – but at the same time he couldn't… wouldn't relinquish a single moment, not by choice.

He was just too big of a bastard to be that selfless.


End file.
